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National 211 hotline calls for food assistance quadrupled in a matter of days, a magnitude typically seen during disasters

  • Written by Matthew W. Kreuter, Kahn Family Professor of Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis
National 211 hotline calls for food assistance quadrupled in a matter of days, a magnitude typically seen during disastersSharp spikes in calls for food assistance are rare outside of natural disasters.AP Photo/Eric Gay

Between January and mid-October 2025, calls to local 211 helplines from people seeking food pantries in their community held steady at nearly 1,000 calls per day.

But as the government shutdown entered its fourth week in late October, states began to...

Read more: National 211 hotline calls for food assistance quadrupled in a matter of days, a magnitude...

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