To feed her family of four a Thanksgiving meal this year, Trudi Dorsey did something she’d never needed to do before: visit a food bank.

In years past, the 54-year-old Towson resident scraped by on income from her jobs and food assistance from the federal government.

Then, the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history halted the benefits that Dorsey and more than 680,000 Marylanders receive through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. To ease the impact, Gov. Wes Moore pledged millions in state money to cover half of the benefits and support food banks.

But ongoing uncertainty with the program just ahead of the nation’s biggest food holiday has left families scrambling and seeking help from food banks.

Two weeks after the government reopened, Dorsey said she has only received partial payments for November in her SNAP account.

She was one of hundreds of people who picked up turkeys and bags of groceries Monday and Tuesday from the Assistance Center of Towson Churches’ annual Thanksgiving drive.

“Every little bit counts,” said Dorsey, standing in a line that spilled out of the parking lot at Trinity Episcopal Church and snaked down Allegheny Avenue.

Faheem Bryant, a 20-year-old massage therapy student from East Baltimore, relies on food stamps to help feed his daughter, who turns 2 on Wednesday. He said when his benefits were cut this month, it forced his family into some difficult choices.

“We had to ration the food to make sure my daughter ate,” Bryant said. “As long as she ate, I was OK with eating once a day.”

As delayed SNAP payments started hitting people’s accounts, Bryant said grocery store shelves cleared out, so he turned to a local food bank to feed his young family.

The Assistance Center of Towson Churches is a consortium of about 50 churches that provides emergency aid to residents across north-central Baltimore County and part of the city. Though the turkey drive is its biggest event each year, the organization also distributes groceries every two weeks, feeds lunch to the homeless and offers financial assistance to people facing eviction.

The communities served by the center were hit hard by cuts to federal food assistance. About 11% of households in Baltimore County and 24% of households in Baltimore receive SNAP benefits, U.S. census data shows.

Layoffs of federal workers and rising costs have added to the challenge of putting food on the table, said Meghan Wadsworth, the center’s volunteer coordinator. In recent months, the organization has seen a surge in demand for its grocery assistance program, Wadsworth said.

Ciera Smith, a mother of four from Baltimore, said SNAP cuts led her to seek out the churches’ food drives and others in the area.

Without the assistance? “We probably wouldn’t be eating,” Smith said.

This week, dozens of volunteers, many of them retirees and churchgoers, distributed turkeys and grocery bags filled with macaroni and cheese, rice, mashed potatoes, canned vegetables and cranberry sauce.

Others unloaded delivery trucks or assembled bags of fresh produce.

Baltimore County Council member Mike Ertel, who represents Towson, helped break down stacks of empty cardboard boxes.

Baltimore resident Beth Myers handed out hundreds of handwoven potholders she’s collected from weavers and artisans around the country. Myers said she was motivated by her own experiences relying on food pantries and struggling financially in recent years.

“When you’re experiencing hardship, you very often don’t get brand-new things, let alone pretty things,” Myers said.

Those who received food said they’ve faced a number of challenges this year beyond cuts to food stamps.

Kim Sedlak, a 58-year-old from Baltimore, said she’s felt squeezed by rising food and utility costs. Her daughter requires a special diet because of a rare genetic condition, which makes the family’s grocery bills even more expensive.

“I have no cash at all and hardly any food at the house,” Sedlak said. “So this food is a blessing.”

Ken Hoffman, a 76-year-old veteran who lives in a Towson senior building, has picked up a Thanksgiving turkey from the Assistance Center of Towson Churches for the past seven years. He said he can’t afford to buy a big holiday meal from the grocery store on his fixed income.

“This is just a godsend,” Hoffman said. “I really appreciate it. They’re always taking care of the neighborhood.”

Hoffman approached a table outside the church, where volunteer Ron Conley handed him a turkey and a bag of groceries.

“God bless you, and happy Thanksgiving,” Conley told Hoffman.

Conley said the Thanksgiving drive always draws a big crowd. This year, he saw people lined up in the cold at least 90 minutes before it opened Monday.

“There’s always folks that need something to eat, that’s the bottom line,” Conley said.