As November looms, states are trying to sort what options they can offer beneficiaries to fill the gap in food assistance. Reporters from the NPR Network are covering the impact of this potential lapse in states across the country.

With food-stamp funding set to lapse Saturday, recipients are asking what happens to their benefits — and when help might resume.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — more commonly known as SNAP, or food stamps — is a key benefits program that serves more than 40 million people across the country. Now, the shutdown is threatening to suspend benefits, raising concerns over where millions of people who rely on the program will turn to for food.

Bucks County residents are set to lose SNAP benefits, formerly called "food stamps," Nov. 1 amid a federal shutdown and Pennsylvania budget impasse.

Gov. Katie Hobbs made $1.8 million available as food stamp funding runs out. That's roughly 1% of the state's monthly food assistance distribution.

"We cannot food bank our way out of this situation," said Kurt Reiber, CEO of Freestore Foodbank. SNAP benefits could end Nov. 1.

As the government shutdown reaches the one-month mark, the country is about to hit two milestones that are set to make it feel all too real for many Americans. On Saturday, Nov. 1, food stamp benefits will dry up just as open enrollment begins for those purchasing health insurance for the next year, complete with steep, double-digit rate hikes .

Nearly 2 million Illinois residents depend on SNAP to help pay for groceries. As the government shutdown continues, they’re scrambling to find other ways to feed their families.