DENVER — For Barbara Atkeson and Robin Ashmore, volunteering at their local food pantry, Metro Caring, has become a part of their routine.
Ashmore began volunteering right before Christmas of last year, and Atkeson began when the government shut down last fall.
“It's hard not to feel overwhelmed and sort of devastated to see so much need in our community,” Atkeson said.
Emily Settlecowski, food access manager with Metro Caring, said the food pantry has seen a sustained need since SNAP payments were paused in the fall of 2025 amid the government shutdown.
“We've been booked out for a month for a while now,” she noted.
Settlecowski said one of the indicators of the need the food pantry is seeing is with their community shelves that provide ready-to-eat food. She said Metro Caring has seen double the amount of people since November.
“We have an additional, like, 60 to 70 folks every shift that we're open, accessing food without an appointment, through those community shelves,” she said.
That's compared to about 30 people per shift before, she said.
“What we're trying to navigate is how we can reach more folks more immediately, similar to what we were able to do back in November when the SNAP disruption originally occurred,” she added.
Settlecowski emphasized that the need is only expected to grow.
"We're only expecting this to continue and even increase as these work requirements go into effect and more folks roll off of SNAP," she said.
Monica Buhlig, who serves as the chief impact officer with Food Bank of the Rockies, sees a similar trend.
“We expect that over this year, we will continue to see the need rise," Buhlig said.
“Since SNAP has come back on, we've seen a gradual decline, but we are still 10% higher than we were before SNAP was disrupted, with respect to the people we're serving, because they're struggling to make ends meet,” she said.
Buhlig also noted what she and Settlecowski believe to be harmful impacts from new work requirements.
“The work requirements require that people work 20 hours a week and have demonstration that they are working 20 hours a week,” Buhlig said.
“It increased the age from 54 to 64 years of age needing to demonstrate that they are working," she said. "It also decreased the age so that parents with children who are 14 years and older also need to demonstrate that they're working."
These requirements went into effect Nov. 1, 2025, in Colorado under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Buhlig said because of the new requirements, communities will see a similar “lapse” to what was seen during the SNAP disruption in November.
“If someone isn't able to meet the work requirements, they will be disenrolled from SNAP," she said. "Then they would need to, once able to, re-enroll... We will see that in people's lives if they aren't able to meet these work requirements.”
Buhlig said at this time, Food Bank of the Rockies does not know what to expect, but within the year, a lot of people will lose some or all of their SNAP benefits.
“These new rules will stay in place, and in accompanying that is the fact that the cost of living is increasing," she said. "SNAP is the safety net, and there are 48% of people who are experiencing hunger who aren't eligible for SNAP.”
But though there is uncertainty, the mission of our local food banks and pantries remains steady as they prepare for this increased need.
“We are making sure that we are ordering the foods that are harder for hunger relief partners to access, and we will make sure that we have food available throughout this year of change,” Buhlig said.
Denver7 asked Settlecowski with Metro Caring if they feel they are prepared for the increased need they’ll be seeing.
“We're going to try our hardest,” she said.
“I think the most important thing to hold true is that SNAP is our best tool," she added. "It's our largest food assistance program that provides dignity and access for folks to get the food that they need for their families."
If you are moved to help as our food banks and pantries work to meet this increased need, Denver7 is teaming up with Food Bank of the Rockies and CommonSpirit to help fight food insecurity through our 7 Days to Help End Hunger campaign. The campaign runs up until Feb. 15, and the Scripps Howard Fund will match the first $10,000 donated, making your generosity go twice as far.
