REGIONAL - Nearly half a million Minnesotans could lose their SNAP (food assistance) benefits at the end of February if the federal government shutdown persists.

Already, the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) is advising those who receive benefits under the program to make plans and conserve their February benefits, which were released ahead of schedule over the weekend.

“People need to be cognizant of the fact that if they have used their January benefits, the February ones need to last about six weeks,” Director of Employment Training Julie Greenly said. “Our current understanding is that if the shutdown doesn’t end by February, SNAP will run out.”

Greenly said the AEOA, which administers the benefits for about 830 families in the area, is urging those families to seek out help from their local food shelf or call the Minnesota Food Helpline. Already, the helpline has seen a 43-percent increase in calls in the first 10 days of the year over last year.

Greenly said the early winter months tend to be busiest for local food shelves and last year over 3,000 families were reported to the AEOA as having used one of nine local food shelves on the Iron Range in January.

One of those food shelves is located in Ely.

“We have about 400 households that have visited over the past year,” Manager Cheryl Boyes said. “If the benefits run out, we anticipate we could see some of those show up, more so than the usual.”

During an average month, the Ely Food Shelf sees about 220 households.

Boyes said the shelf has already put in an extra order of food to their distributor, Second Harvest, in Duluth, to prepare for a potential increase in traffic from both furloughed federal workers from the Forest Service or those who will see their SNAP benefits run out.

In order to cope with the potential temporary loss of the program, Boyes said the fod shelf may open a second day each month to allow people easier access.

She added the organization is in good shape financially and would be able to handle additional orders for a time if the shutdown lingered.

“We are blessed to have really great community support,” Boyes said. “We feel financially secure if we need to ramp up our services at this time.”

As of press time, the U.S. Senate was set to vote on two bills on Jan. 24 that could allow for a temporary re-opening of the government. One bill would provide funding until Feb. 8, without providing funds for President Trump’s border wall. The other is expected to include $5.7 billion for a portion of border wall.

An earlier proposal by Trump included a three-year immigration agreement to allow the DACA or “Dreamers” program to be reinstated for three years. The idea was panned by both parties.

More information on area food assistance can be found by going to www.mnfoodhealthline.org.

Area food shelves can be reach at 218-255-8527 in Ely, in Tower at 218-753-3202 and in Cook at 218-666-2715.