KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.
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Tuesday marks the 35th day of the federal government shutdown, tying it for the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
Food stamp recipients got a brief sigh of relief on Monday as the Trump Administration announced it will tap into emergency funds to provide partial SNAP benefits.
However, it's not known how long it will be until those benefits are paid out. Both Missouri and Kansas told KSHB 41 News they are waiting for official guidance from the USDA.
But its not just families impacted.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe claims the state is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in economic output for each week the shutdown continues.
As the budgets for state and federal governments tighten, so do the wallets of thousands of families in the area.
Fort Osage School District is one of the many schools, churches and other agencies stepping up as the government shutdown continues. The school district is offering free dinners for anyone under 18 at Cler-Mont Elementary School and Elm Grove Elementary school Monday through Friday in November.
The district is offering meals at Cler-Mont from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and at Elm Grove from 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Adult meals cost $3.75. Families do not have children enrolled in the Fort Osage School District to attend.
"Fort Osage is just one piece of the puzzle," Superintendent Dr. Jason Snodgrass said. "We want to be a part of the solution. We want to help families as best as we can."
"We believe that it's very important to help those families with any strain that they may be feeling with losing the SNAP benefits," Dr. Snodgrass said.
Nearly 1.4 million Americans have gone without a paycheck this month due to federal furloughs or withholdings. 41 million more people are waiting for their November SNAP benefits, but there's no clear distribution date in sight.
"We're already starting to see some delinquency on payments, whether its for credit cards, automobiles, those kind of things," Larry Wigger, UMKC supply chain economist, said. "It's more economic hardship at a point when we were already struggling and flirting with inflation and recession."
The White House and Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe's office say the state is expected to lose out on $232 million of economic activity and gross state product each week of the shutdown. That's about $1 billion of lost economic product for the month of the government shutdown, according to the White House.
But Wigger explained he doesn't expect the shutdown to have lasting impacts for the overall economy.
"It's at the macro level, the individual level, where it's really painful and hard to watch," Wigger said. "I don't expect huge impact to the supply chains. It's not like there's going to be a lot of stuff sitting on the grocery shelves because it's not being bought."
But even if the overall economy isn't directly impacted by the shutdown, thousands of families in the metro are.
"I'm one of them," Arthur Murphy, a grandparent, said.
Murphy brought his two grandsons to get a hot meal Monday night at Cler-Mont.
"It helps," Murphy said. "Everything helps."
A list of resources for families in need in the KC metro can be found here.
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