A former federal employee who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development is among those turning to food banks in the D.C. region following sweeping cuts to the federal workforce.
“She’d worked for USAID for 16 years, and she was rather emotional that she herself was now in the position of needing food assistance,” said Capital Area Food Bank President and CEO Radha Muthiah.
It’s been about six weeks since the Capital Area Food Bank began hosting pop-ups outside of grocery stores for former workers like the woman who lost her job at USAID.
The goal is to get shelf-stable pantry items and fresh produce into the hands of those in need — as well as information about resources in their neighborhoods to get help.
“These are individuals who … are not used to navigating the Emergency Food Assistance Network,” Muthiah said. “They don’t know where all of our 400 partners are.”
The Capital Area Food Bank distributes food to nonprofit partners around the D.C. area, helping to provide 60 million meals every year, according to its website.
“There was an employee the other day from Health and Human Services who was also a veteran and just one year away from retirement, and so that was understandably very painful for that individual,” Muthiah said.
Federal workers aren’t the only ones looking for help
The people in line at the organization’s distribution sites give a window into the ripple effects of changes at the federal level.
“Those who, I would say, are affected downstream in some way,” Muthiah said. “These are individuals who are providing services to those who’ve been more directly impacted.”
Muthiah said a housekeeper is also looking for help from the food bank. She cleans the homes of two former federal employees who chopped back on her services as they look to reduce expenses after losing their jobs.
She said others who are indirectly affected include a real estate agent and a person employed by a nail salon.
“They were seeing fewer people coming into the nail salon, and typically this is the beginning, she said, of a busy period for them,” Muthiah said. “She and her salon attribute it to people spending less on discretionary types of activities.”
Data suggests that some federal employees who lost their jobs may be running low on funds, Muthiah said. About 114,000 federal workers and contractors in the D.C. area make less than $70,000 a year. People in that category typically have a month’s worth of savings.
“If they were to lose their jobs, if they were to have periods in between jobs, that’s not enough,” Muthiah said. “Those savings aren’t enough to sustain them and to be able to put food on the table.”
For example, if 10% of the workers in that group needed support, that’s another 15,000 people turning to area food banks.
“We’re seeing just so many individuals who’ve worked for over a decade in many of the institutions, they’re sort of mid-career and ready to move into their prime in these areas that they’ve committed to,” she said. “And suddenly, they are looking at other prospects.”
Heat on food bank comes amid funding cuts
The increased pressure on food banks comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has reduced funding to programs providing those nonprofit organizations with federal aid.
That’s made for lower supplies of food, right as food banks are seeing an increase in the number of people who need help, Muthiah said.
It’s hard to pin down whether demand has peaked, she said. Factors such as tariffs and inflation are at play, in addition to the cuts to federal funding and employees.
“From everything that we are hearing, many individuals who are coming to us now need some help, but are telling us they’ll need more help when these furloughs turn into layoffs; and they actually don’t have a paycheck that continues to come in,” Muthiah said. “So we are anticipating that there could be more need as we go into the fall.”
Thousands of people who accepted offers from Trump’s deferred resignation program will no longer get a paycheck from the government come this fall.
Where to find help
The pop-up food distribution sites will run through June. They’re typically held on Saturday mornings, from 8 a.m. to noon at the following locations:
D.C.
- Safeway at 322 40th Street NE
Maryland
- Giant at 7546 Annapolis Rd, Lanham
- Giant at 7074 Allentown Rd, Camp Springs
- Giant at 5500 Silver Hill Road, District Heights
Virginia
- Giant at 6364a Springfield Plaza, Springfield
Capital Area Food Bank has adjusted the schedule and locations in hopes of reaching those most impacted by the changes.
“In Prince George’s County, for example, we are seeing just a much larger and steady flow of those who’ve been affected by these federal policy shifts, and so we, in June, will be adding a third pop up in Prince George’s County,” Muthiah said.
The pop-ups are about raising awareness, but Muthiah said her organization will continue to get food to those workers impacted by the cuts through its partners.
She compared the aftereffects of the federal cuts to the pandemic, when reductions in employment and funding had a ripple effect across industries and sectors.
“I’m really concerned about what we’re seeing now,” Muthiah said. “Yes, the short-term effects, and how we and others are trying to support individuals. But what these implications are for the longer term, and how that will likely affect our regional economy.”
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