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Central Florida food bank seeks help for families affected by government shutdown

ORLANDO, Fla. — Federal workers in Central Florida were hoping for better news, but now it appears the furloughs and work without pay will continue.

Since Friday, a local food bank's heard from a lot of workers who said they need help making ends meet.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida said they're seeing more new people asking for help since this government shutdown began.

Carolyn Smith-Alleyne has a lot on her mind as she unloads donations at Second Harvest Food Bank here in Orange County.

“One paycheck for my family would make a lot of difference,” Smith-Alleyne said.

She knows some of the food will end up with local federal workers affected by the longest government shutdown in American history.

The food bank said in just the last 24 hours, they've heard from numerous workers, mostly the Transportation Security Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture, who are worried about how they will put food on the table.

“They didn't ask for this. They didn't do anything wrong,” said Erika Spence, from Second Harvest Food Bank. “They're really in a stranded situation and that's really the word they used over and over again - we feel stranded, we feel alone, 'We feel that nobody is here for us.'”

But the food bank said it is here for them and understands their plight.

“One of the families we heard from has a child who's autistic, so any disruption in that routine is traumatic for that child,” Spence said.

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