POTTSTOWN, Pa. - More than 13 million Americans are now waiting for food stamps as the government shutdown continues.
It's estimated more than 40 million people could lose their benefits if payments aren't restarted by the end of the month, so restaurants in Pottstown have teamed up to make sure people don't go hungry.
People lined up outside The Pourhouse Restaurant on Wednesday, a business offering a large 1-topping pizza and a 2-liter soda for free starting at 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday to people going without food stamps.
The people in line told us they didn't see this coming.
"Your heart was crushed. No food, what? You get scared, you don't know what you're going to do," said Janaya Geiger.
"It was a shock, and we were just like, what are we going to do?" said Kathleen Cox.
Cox told us, what she did was immediately start making sacrifices.
"Because I don't now have money for food, I had to cancel my doctor appointments, because those copays for the doctors now have to try to scrape together and get a little bit of food to get by on," said Cox.
Another restaurant offering people free food is the Ice House. From Friday to Sunday, they'll be serving up free large cheese pizzas to SNAP recipients.
"You expect your car to break down. You expect your house to have repairs done to it. You know these costs are coming. You don't anticipate your SNAP benefits getting cut," said Ice House owner Lloyd Griscom.
Griscom said the places people can turn for help are limited. Earlier this month, the USDA issued a notice (https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/retailer/retailer-notice/reminder-snap-equal-treatment) to grocery stores across the country, saying they cannot legally offer discounts to people not receiving their food stamps, citing a discrimination law, and other food programs are getting overwhelmed.
"Even non-profit food pantries, they're not prepared for this level of people," said Griscom.
But at least on Wednesday, there was pizza, and the people in line told us they were grateful.
"Events like this really help. It's a blessing, it really is. I really appreciate all that these businesses are doing to help the community," said Cox.
"I thank these guys, and this is why I love Pottstown," said Geiger.
The restaurants offering free food to SNAP recipients, with their EBT card and I.D. handy are:
Ice House: 1 King St.
The Pourhouse: 636 E High St.
Giovanni's 724 Italian Restaurant: 1492 E Schuylkill Rd.
Piccolo Mondo: 501 W Schuylkill Rd.