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Now the chaos

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in the SNAP program

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and overall higher costs

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have drawn more and more people

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to seek help

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from food pantries

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including many

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first-time visitors.

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You've been

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executive director

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for five years.

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How does this period

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of time right now

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compare to prior years?

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There's no comparison.

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This is the

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I don't even want to say crazy

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but it is crazy

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how much need

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there is right now.

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So as I was looking at

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numbers again

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just from last week

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serving close to 5,000 people

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in a week.

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We never thought we'd

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be able to do that

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and never thought

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we need to do that.

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But we're here

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for the people that need us

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through very dedicated

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volunteers and

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a very devoted staff.

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Another heartbreaking thing

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yes, we do see a lot of first-ti

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Last week was

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81 households had

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never been here before

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came for the

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very first time.

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To see the

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looks on their face

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they're frightened.

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They don't know what to do

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or what to expect.

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And for many of them

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they're feeling shame

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and they're making

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telling us that

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I'm sorry that I'm here

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and apologizing for being here.

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And we greet them with a smile.

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You saw Kevin

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here is our registry

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registering clients

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and greeting them

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with a smile

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and with telling

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it's OK. We're here

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we're going to help you.
