PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The cost of living continues to rise, and for many of us, the grocery bill is the most significant burden, especially for nonprofits.
Food pantry volunteers said they are not able to keep their shelves stocked.
Feeding America states that 47 million people in the U.S. are food insecure—that includes 14 million children.
WATCH: Food pantries struggle to keep shelves stocked after federal budget cuts
In 2023 alone, more than 50 million turned to food programs for help.
Currently, food pantries are struggling to keep up with demand, following the federal government's budget cuts to the USDA.
"Being able to just know that you have something to eat you know which is good these days. You know, just to know that there's a meal available," said Joe LittleJohn.
Joe LittleJohn is one of many people who benefit from local food banks, like Good Neighbors in Clearwater.
"Today is my nephew's birthday today. I'm able to get a cake and some cupcakes so i could take to them so they can have a little celebration. You know that that's something that my food stamps would not be able to allow these days," LittleJohn.
Lately, he's noticed less food on the shelves at these local food banks
"It's never enough. It's never enough because there's always somebody in need," said LittleJohn.
It's a problem that's being seen all over the country.
"Our supply has gone down drastically in the last few months. We're really struggling to get enough food in to feed the number of people that were serving," said Heather Brooke with the organization Good Neighbors.
"For the last three months, we haven't got anything. We are literally raising money with grants to go out and buy the meat because that's the only way we can provide it to our clients right now," said Joanne Braccio with Love Thy Neighbor.
As part of President Trump's plan to reduce federal spending, the federal government made budget cuts to the U.S.D.A. earlier this year.
The cuts are impacting the local food purchase assistance cooperative agreement, which helps food banks buy locally sourced food.
Leaders at two Pinellas County non-profits, Good Neighbors and Love Thy Neighbor, said they are feeling the trickle-down effects.
Leaders at Good Neighbors said this is the lowest food supply they've had in years.
"It's troubling. We're all trying to work here hard every day to get food out to people, more people, more lines, more calls. It's just a lot of people in need right now," said Brooke.
Now, the shelves look almost empty.
"We are just doing what we can to keep alive and with the snaps benefits gonna be cut pretty soon. It's gonna get really rough out there. It's gonna be rough for us. It's gonna be rough for the people that we feed," said Braccio.
Joanne Braccio with Love Thy Neighbor is asking people to donate to nonprofits, and said she's doing everything she can to make ends meet.
"I've got regular customers. I've got customers that come in and say I don't know how I would feed my family without you and I don't know what we are going to do," said Braccio.
“I didn't see anything"
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