NeighborImpact, the regional organization that provides food, childcare, utility assistance and more, has announced the cancellation of two food distribution programs in Central Oregon, affecting hundreds of families and homebound individuals.

The region’s food supply, due to cancellations of federal orders of dairy, meat and eggs through July, has dropped 25% in recent months.

A Redmond mobile food pantry based at American Legion Park will close after May 29. It serves 277 people every month. The Fresh Express Home Delivery program, which feeds 380 homebound people each month, will close after June 27.

“There’s no backup plan. We’re seeing this happen over all the feeding programs, whether that’s schools, the Council on Aging’s programs or our programs,” said NeighborImpact Executive Director Scott Cooper. “The shutdown in the federal commodity supply is having the impact that we were all concerned it would have. There’s simply no food coming into the region.”

Cancellations in the federal commodity distribution program have reduced available food in Central Oregon. In March, NeighborImpact’s 59 partner organizations were told that distributions would drop by 17% going forward. In April, the loss of food increased to 25%, according to  NeighborImpact.

NeighborImpact receives food from the federal commodities program via the Oregon Food Bank, local grocery stores and community donations. The organization also purchases food to fill in the gaps to serve a growing need to address food insecurity in Central Oregon. Overall, NeighborImpact is feeding around 80,000 people in the region a month. Cooper said there is enough food for half those people.

He considered these closures a “warning shot” and said additional cuts are coming.

“That need for food assistance is largely related to people’s lack of enough resources to manage the cost of daily living, mostly driven by housing and somewhat by childcare,” said Cooper. “We are remarkably lucky at NeighborImpact that with all of the noise about federal cuts, we actually have not experienced much of that except in the area of food. Food, that crisis is real.”

NeighborImpact organizers have met with state legislators to convince them to restart the federal commodities program. Cooper is also concerned about the continued discussion on the federal level about reducing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, energy assistance and housing subsidies. NeighborImpact will launch additional fundraising campaigns to replace what the organization has lost, he said.

“Food is foundational to all other anti-poverty work. You cannot deal with helping people improve their self-sufficiency if they’re hungry,” he said. “What’s out there stretches as far as it can and then it’s gone.”

The Council on Aging runs Meals on Wheels for those who are 60 and older and housebound due to disability, illness or injury. Though an eligibility assessment is required, the program is funded by the federal government and community donations.