PHOTO COLLECTION: Vatican What’s Happening and Where

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PHOTO COLLECTION: Vatican What’s Happening and Where

2025-04-25 19:21 Last Updated At：19:31

This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.

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Cardinal Francesco Montenegro walks at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Nuns walk at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis is lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A woman holds drawings depicting the pontiff as people wait in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Nuns wait in line to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Priests and security personnel gather outside St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A religious tapestry is displayed in a shop as Pope Francis is lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica , at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A pilgrim holds a picture of Pope Francis as he waits in line to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A guide uses a colourful hand fan to lead the group as they leave after viewing Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica,, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Maritime pine trees are trimmed along the Vatican walls ahead of Saturday's funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

People pay respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People wait in line to enter St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis is lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Balcony columns frame the queue of people lining up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Nuns leave after viewing Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People wait in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People arrive in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Nuns wait in line to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People flock to St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Italian Police patrol the Tiber river ahead of Saturday's funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Priests and security personnel gather outside St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A woman places her hand on the entrance door of St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Nuns wait in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Workers mount a lift to carry media on the rooftop of the Colonnade ahead of Friday's funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Fernando Filoni arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Security and police make way for Cardinal Sean O'Malley arriving for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People walk at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Faithful pray at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Nuns walk at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Priests celebrate mass at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People walk next to the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where the late Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andrea, a tourist from Freiburg, Germany, poses for a friend along with Kaya, the dog, in front of the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where the late Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Members of security are silhouetted by the windows of the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, ahead of the arrival of the body of Pope Francis inside the basilica, where he will lie in state for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)

Workers clean the steps at the St. Peter's Square ahead of the arrival of the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Security persons stand at St. Peter's Square ahead of the arrival of the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Vatican Swiss Guards stand at the Arch of the Bells where the body of Pope Francis will be carried on its way to St. Peter's Basilica, where it will lie in state for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pontifical Swiss guards stand in St. Peter's Square before the arrival of the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

FILE - Black smoke emerges from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel as cardinals voted on the second day of the conclave to elect a pope in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

FILE - A view of the Cardinals' tables in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, Aug. 25, 1978. The conclave will celebrate Mass here for prayers for inspiration to elect the successor of the late Pope Paul VI. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Tables and chairs line the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in preparation for the conclave, on April 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, File)

FILE - White smoke is seen billowing out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and announcing that a new pope has been elected on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

People walk past a wooden board where work in progress is taking place on the spot where Pope Francis will be buried, inside St. Mary Major basilica, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A woman walks past a wooden board where work in progress is taking place on the spot where Pope Francis will be buried, inside St. Mary Major basilica, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful and nuns walk inside in St. Mary Major basilica, where Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful and nuns gather by the statue of Pope Pius IX, inside in St. Mary Major basilica, where Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful pray before the Salus populi Romani (Salvation of the people of Rome), a Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus who in turn is holding a jeweled golden book, inside St. Mary Major basilica, where Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

More Images

Cardinal Francesco Montenegro walks at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Nuns walk at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis is lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A woman holds drawings depicting the pontiff as people wait in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Nuns wait in line to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Priests and security personnel gather outside St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A religious tapestry is displayed in a shop as Pope Francis is lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica , at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A pilgrim holds a picture of Pope Francis as he waits in line to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A guide uses a colourful hand fan to lead the group as they leave after viewing Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica,, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Maritime pine trees are trimmed along the Vatican walls ahead of Saturday's funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

People pay respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People wait in line to enter St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis is lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Balcony columns frame the queue of people lining up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Nuns leave after viewing Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People wait in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People arrive in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Nuns wait in line to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People flock to St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Italian Police patrol the Tiber river ahead of Saturday's funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Priests and security personnel gather outside St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A woman places her hand on the entrance door of St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Nuns wait in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica for the final day, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People line up to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Workers mount a lift to carry media on the rooftop of the Colonnade ahead of Friday's funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Fernando Filoni arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Security and police make way for Cardinal Sean O'Malley arriving for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan arrives for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

People walk at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Faithful pray at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People stand in line as they wait to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Nuns walk at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Priests celebrate mass at St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People walk next to the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where the late Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andrea, a tourist from Freiburg, Germany, poses for a friend along with Kaya, the dog, in front of the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where the late Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Members of security are silhouetted by the windows of the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, ahead of the arrival of the body of Pope Francis inside the basilica, where he will lie in state for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)

Workers clean the steps at the St. Peter's Square ahead of the arrival of the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Security persons stand at St. Peter's Square ahead of the arrival of the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Vatican Swiss Guards stand at the Arch of the Bells where the body of Pope Francis will be carried on its way to St. Peter's Basilica, where it will lie in state for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pontifical Swiss guards stand in St. Peter's Square before the arrival of the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

FILE - Black smoke emerges from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel as cardinals voted on the second day of the conclave to elect a pope in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

FILE - A view of the Cardinals' tables in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, Aug. 25, 1978. The conclave will celebrate Mass here for prayers for inspiration to elect the successor of the late Pope Paul VI. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Tables and chairs line the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in preparation for the conclave, on April 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, File)

FILE - White smoke is seen billowing out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and announcing that a new pope has been elected on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

People walk past a wooden board where work in progress is taking place on the spot where Pope Francis will be buried, inside St. Mary Major basilica, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A woman walks past a wooden board where work in progress is taking place on the spot where Pope Francis will be buried, inside St. Mary Major basilica, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful and nuns walk inside in St. Mary Major basilica, where Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful and nuns gather by the statue of Pope Pius IX, inside in St. Mary Major basilica, where Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful pray before the Salus populi Romani (Salvation of the people of Rome), a Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus who in turn is holding a jeweled golden book, inside St. Mary Major basilica, where Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Funding cuts threaten to deepen hunger crisis as rising costs send more families to food banks

2025-05-01 20:38 Last Updated At：20:50

NEW YORK (AP) — The Campaign Against Hunger was already struggling to feed thousands of families a week when the Trump administration pulled more than $1.3 million in grants.

Demand has only increased at the New York nonprofit since the city emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic insecurity. In a first for the pantry, however, it isn't just the jobless lining up for its fresh produce and meats. It's working people, too.

Food banks typically see the most need during periods of high unemployment and yet the U.S. is facing down a hunger crisis during a relatively resilient labor market. The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture research showed there were one million more food insecure households in 2023 than 2022.

Now, income stagnation and rising living costs are sending wage earners to food banks across the country — all as the federal government shuts off funding streams that provide millions with healthier, harder-to-get groceries. The squeeze comes as Republicans discuss budget plans that hunger relief groups fear will deepen the crisis by slashing food stamp spending.

“We were already in a bad state. But now we have been plunged head down into a crisis that should never have been,” said Melony Samuels, executive director of The Campaign Against Hunger. “If major cuts like these continue, I would imagine that our doors will close.”

Funding cuts began threatening food availability in March.

The USDA halted $500 million of expected food deliveries and cut another $1 billion for hunger relief programs supporting local producers. The Department of Homeland Security also rescinded Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for local governments and nonprofits — including The Campaign Against Hunger — to shelter and feed newly arrived noncitizen migrants after their release.

“Secretary Noem has directed FEMA to implement additional controls to ensure that all grant money going out is consistent with law and does not go to fraud, waste or abuse, as in the past,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Samuels said her nonprofit is limiting normally bimonthly food distributions to once a month due to the lost funds, which are being withheld amid what she called “baseless allegations" from DHS that the nonprofit might have broken laws against transporting migrants in the country illegally.

That means fewer nutritious options for the dozens of people — some holding babies, many pushing carts — who recently waited to shop inside The Campaign Against Hunger's Brooklyn mock-store on an overcast weekday in April.

Longtime Brooklyn resident Kim Dennis has noticed the uptick in need. On top of her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, the 65-year-old retiree visits The Campaign Against Hunger twice each month for groceries like potatoes and pork chops that are more difficult to find at other food banks often filled with canned goods.

“The lines are getting a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot," Dennis said, partially due to recent immigration waves. “Everything is going up and a lot of us cannot afford."

Over half of responding food banks told Feeding America they served more neighbors this February than the same month last year.

Christiana Santamaria said she visits a local food bank in Alameda, California each week to feed herself, her husband and their daughter. They struggle to cover food costs, internet bills and car payments with a monthly household income of nearly $3,000.

“I mean, my husband, he works full-time. He has a quote-unquote ‘good job.’ But I mean, it’s the military. And if even the military can’t afford things, that’s sad," she said.

The country's largest hunger-relief network is also feeling the strain.

Feeding America consists of more than 200 member food banks. Their assistance is often easier to obtain than government benefits such as SNAP that some advocates say require burdensome applications. Many families put dinner on the table through a combination of the two — a strategy food bank leaders say could be upended if Republican lawmakers cut SNAP allotments or expand work requirements.

Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Greene expects his organization, which operates the largest distribution among Feeding America partners, to lose somewhere around $4 million this year.

The government pullbacks amp up that pressure. If the cuts stay, Greene said, the projected losses include $3 million for food storage and distribution, $7 million supporting local farmers and producers, and 40 tractor trailer loads a month carrying key produce and protein.

Greene is trying to make up the difference through donations. But he's realistic. Surveys consistently place American philanthropy around 2% of GDP and social services receive just a sliver of that. Even if charitable contributions spiked, he said, they couldn't replace federal support.

That makes SNAP availability even more critical to alleviating hunger. Cutting the program by 11%, he said, would be the equivalent of wiping out every food bank in the United States.

Food purchases are funded through the Farm Bill. Trump's trade war has also generated more money for USDA to buy food commodities under a 1935 program that dedicates tariff collections toward “bonus” food purchases.

What concerns hunger relief groups, however, is that the suspended purchases are covered by a different funding pot that allows the USDA great discretion when responding to economic disruptions. The first Trump administration put more than $2 billion of those funds toward The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP. However, USDA is now reviewing $500 million allocated last fall for the program.

Federal commodities programs provide some of the most reliable supplies of proteins. Vince Hall, who leads government relations for Feeding America, said TEFAP-purchased foods account for more than 20% of everything distributed by the entire network. That number rises in rural communities — where the cost of reaching distant populations is higher and donated products are less available.

The impact trickles down to smaller pantries that rely on larger food banks. Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is bracing for about 25% food reductions from a Feeding America partner in Bloomington, Indiana.

“What we're likely to see then would be a dip in what are really the nutritional staples that we expect in the pantry,” said Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard President Megan Betz.

A 2022 study measuring food pantries' value suggests participating families obtain between $600 and $1000 annually from them. That's equivalent to a couple months of food for some low-income households, according to co-author David Just, an applied economics professor at Cornell University.

The centers helped cushion families from the pandemic's economic shocks. But food insecurity started rising as the government rolled back its pandemic-era assistance.

Need has surpassed the height of COVID-19, according to Alameda County Community Food Bank Executive Director Reggie Young. The weight of the Oakland nonprofit's annual food distributions has doubled its pre-pandemic totals.

Food insecurity nationwide is the highest it's been in about a decade, according to Just, making it “potentially a really difficult time to start cutting food assistance through the pantries.”

“This could cause some pretty significant pain,” he said. "And I don’t know that we’re delivering something more efficient in the end.”

Associated Press journalist Terry Chea in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.