No picture today.  Instead the text of an interview with Jeanine published by the Concord Journal.

As the federal government shutdown continues, local food pantries have stepped in to help furloughed employees make ends meet.

Open Table, a nonprofit organization that offers community dinners in Concord and Maynard and food pantry services in Maynard, has been preparing for an increase in families seeking support, according to Executive Director Jeanine Calabria.

Calabria said she had started to see an increase in families attending the organization’s community dinners at their Jan. 3 dinner at First Parish Church in Concord.

“We did have a couple families in anticipation of (missed federal paychecks) come Thursday night,” Calabria said. “And they let us know that there are more families planning to come.”

Calabria said before the shutdown, the nonprofit had prepared for a decrease in attendance due to a newly defined service area. While community dinners are still open to all, pantry services were reduced to 23 municipalities surrounding Maynard and Concord.

“Initially we were expecting 20 percent fewer customers, but now we haven’t seen that,” Calabria said.

During the shutdown, roughly 800,000 federal employees nationwide have either been sent home or made to work without pay.

Calabria said that Open Table expects demand for its services to increase after the first missed paycheck, Jan. 10.

“We’ve actually reached out to Hanscom and have been working with people there to get the word out and let employees there know that our services are available,” Calabria said, referencing Hanscom Field, one of the larger federal employers in the region.

With funding for most military personnel secured through 2019, Calabria said the anticipated increase in attendees was from civilian employees of Hanscom Field and their families.

In addition to their dinners and food pantry services, Calabria said that Open Table would be holding a special pantry service for federal employees on Jan. 19, should the shutdown still be ongoing at that time.

“We want everyone who needs us to know we’re available,” Calabria said.