Mike Wolanin | The Republic People wait in line outside of the Love Chapel Food Pantry in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
Love Chapel could be on track for its second-busiest month on record, even after demand surged to an all-time high last month due to a lapse in federal nutrition benefits.
As of Tuesday, a total of 1,675 families had turned to the food pantry for help with groceries this month, including 122 on Monday alone — an all-time record for most families served in a day, said Love Chapel Executive Director Kelly Daugherty.
The total so far this month is just below the 1,698 families served in December 2024, which set an all-time record at the time. That mark was surpassed last month, when about 1,800 families sought food assistance after Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits lapsed during the government shutdown.
Daugherty expects the number of families served to continue to climb, as the food pantry will be open for few more days this month.
“We probably will set the other record besides November,” Daugherty said, referring to demand for food this month. “…December, every year, is our busiest month.”
Daugherty said the food pantry is still feeling some of the effects of the lapse in SNAP benefits last month even though full benefits were paid in December.
Daugherty said Love Chapel served around 150 new families last month that had never been to the food pantry before, and most of them needed to return this month for more help with food.
“I would have expected that we would see a spillover effect into December, and I think we have,” Daugherty said.
The lapse in nutrition benefits last month came after the Trump administration initially declined to tap billions in reserve funds that Congress had authorized for such emergencies.
The administration later agreed to make partial payments of food assistance in November following court orders to do so and then fought an appellate court order requirement to make full payments.
As a result, nearly 5,400 Bartholomew County residents lost at least part of their November SNAP benefits.
Last month, the City of Columbus and several community partners announced that they would be providing $300,000 in emergency funding to Love Chapel, aiming to help the food pantry meet surging demand following the lapse in SNAP payments.
The community partners include Cummins Inc., Centra Credit Union, Toyota Material Handling North America, Love Chapel Foundation and Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County. The emergency funding aimed to ensure that Love Chapel could continue providing meals and food assistance affected by the disruption to SNAP benefits.
The $300,000 donation is the largest one-time cash donation in Love Chapel’s over 50-year history, Daugherty said previously.
Last month, Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon and other city officials also stepped behind the shelves at Love Chapel, marking the first time that city officials have volunteered at the food pantry as a large group.
The increase in demand last month also was challenging for the food pantry’s volunteers, who had been sorting, weighing and stocking a record volume of food donations.
“I can’t thank our community enough for stepping up to make this happen because it was pretty scary there for a while,” Daugherty said. “And I was just very touched with the way our community stepped forward to make sure our neighbors had food.”
