Mississippi food pantries prepare for 2026 — and another possible shutdown

Anticipating what 2026 will bring has been no small task for the Mississippi Food Network. Interim CEO Cassandra Mobley said it's been two steps forward and one step back maintaining their foundational work, while trying to press forward. 

Mobley says the nonprofit distributed almost 26 million pounds of food in 2025 while contending with funding decreases and the shutdown: an amount she says was a decrease from last year all while they served around the same amount of people that they did in 2024.

"This year that's one of the things that we had to do: was really pivot and be flexible and think about how to serve our community and serve our neighbors," she said. 

Meanwhile, another possible shutdown is looming on the horizon. While some progress is being made in avoiding that possible partial shutdown, Mobley says the last one gave them plenty of time —  and experience — to prepare for another round. 

"If they do, what would we do, or how would we do it?" she said. "Those thoughts took place quickly and we already started laying the groundwork for being ready for things like that." 

Long-term, they're hoping to branch out beyond just getting food on plates. Mobley wants to expand their volunteer program, work more with local farmers to source their food close to home and collaborate with other food banks around the region to meet needs across the Gulf South.

"If we have a farmer here who is doing great things with, I don't know — corn, and it's way more than we can do anything with," she said. "We can bless another food bank with it: and vice versa." 

She says branching out while keeping their foundational supports is the big picture for 2026. That'll be a challenge as they grapple with changes to grants they receive and funding from donors, but Mobley wants to keep moving. 

"What we wanna do is make sure that we're gonna continue to at least have the minimum of what we need," Mobley said. "Right now we're not to that point: we are still way above the mark that we set for ourselves four years ago to achieve our goals."

"But we don't want to go backwards because we know that right now what we have is having such an impact on families."

For the moment, other food pantries and charities across Mississippi are also preparing for another possible shutdown, all while coming off the holidays. 

Folks at food patnries have said the holidays are always tough, with increased need in the community around Thanksgiving and Christmas especially. The most recent shutdown exacerbated that in 2025.

But, it also brought the community together together to meet those needs says Ashley Avery, chief operating officer of Stewpot in Jackson.

"Definitely going into the new year, we would definitely want to keep that same momentum from the shutdown and preparing for who knows what may come up next," he said. 

Still, they'll have to wait to see what that shutdown could look like. Jeremy Belk, founder of Central Mississippi Food Pantry, says they'll simply have to work through whatever challenges arise.

"We're not going to do anything differently than what we do every month that we distribute now," he said. "I think during the government shutdown, I think we did have probably around 20, maybe 25, 30 percent more people to come up."

Belk said that meant up to 150 families during the shutdown. They give out whatever they have, but their supplies depend on whatever they receive locally and from agencies like Mississippi Food Network.

Martha Allen Price, executive director of Extra Table, says they're currently reaching out to donors and partners to get ready. But even with food stocked, they're still reeling.

"We have a small reserve for times like this: and we just spent our small reserve," she said. "In November, we doubled our distributions to our pantry partners." 

And she says that many donors who gave in the fall in response to the shutdown may not be able to give again so quickly.

The House recently passed a three-bill package to fund some agencies through September, which is now on its way to the Senate. 

That package also temporarily provided some funding for the remaining nine appropriations bills. Congress has until the end of January to put together and approve a slew of other funding measures to avoid a shutdown.  

Beyond a possible shutdown, though, the winter months are simply a challenge, especially for charities like Stewpot that offer services beyond their pantry.

"When it come to the clothing closet, we're in that season now where we're dealing with inclement weather and in particular right now, we have our emergency shelter," said Avery, speaking to MPB at the end of December when temperatures in Jackson dropped into the upper 20s. 

You can find a food pantry or kitchen near you through Mississippi Food Network's partner agency locator online.