BELLMEAD, Texas (KXXV) — Shepherd's Heart in Waco sees demand surge from 400 to 600 families weekly during the federal government shutdown, expanding services to meet the growing need.
- We are entering the sixth week of the government shutdown, as it started on October 1, 2025
- Shepherd's Heart has expanded to four distribution days to meet the growing need during this shutdown
- For more information on Shepherd's Heart, click here.
Shepherd's Heart food pantry in Waco is experiencing unprecedented demand in its 16th year of operation as the federal government shutdown continues into its sixth week.
The nonprofit has seen a dramatic surge in families seeking assistance, jumping from serving about 400 families to nearly 600 families in recent distributions. Robert Gager, CEO of Shepherd's Heart, said the organization is working to meet the growing need.
"We might have served about 400 families on that day because we have, I'm talking about our pantry in Bellmead, plus our pantry, mobile distribution at Antioch. Yesterday we were just short of 600 families and so it's, it's a, it's a bit of a jump and we've been seeing that all along with what we have done," Gager said.
The organization has already served as many people this year as it did in all of last year, with two months still remaining. The demand has been particularly striking in their school feeding program, which typically serves around 4,200 children monthly but reached 6,200 children last month.
"We already served as many people this year as we did last year and we still got two more months to go, so yeah, we've seen the demand in kids in school, we feed kids in school. That's typically around 4200 kids a month. Last month it was 6200 kids. Yeah, 6200 kids. So it's just jumping up really fast, and we're doing the best we can to respond to it," Gager said.
To address the increased need, Shepherd's Heart has expanded from three to four food distribution days per week. The organization recognizes the critical importance of their work during the ongoing government shutdown.
Despite the surge in demand, Gager expressed confidence in the organization's ability to continue operations through the end of the year.
"I'm comfortable until the end of the year. I know that my supplies are going to last, uh, strong till the end of the year," Gager said. "It's not like I'm gonna jump off a cliff at the beginning of the year, but I've got solid contracts that are gonna keep us going."
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