BUSHKILL -- A food pantry in the Poconos, forced to close because the government shutdown, reopened Tuesday but in a different location.
Those in need of the food are beyond relieved.
Shannon Ansback of East Stroudsburg is one of 1,200 other people in Monroe and Pike Counties who depend on Bushkill Outreach Food Pantry to make sure their families have something to eat.
"It's hard. I lost my unemployment. I only get 800 and something a month from disability. It's hard," said Ansback.
Ansback is a single mother of one child and missed last week's food pick-up because of the government shutdown.
Bushkill Outreach was forced to close its doors because the building is located inside the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which was also forced to close.
So Bushkill Outreach was able to temporarily set up at the Reformed Church of Bushkill.
Ansback usually stocks up on her food once a month, but the new location on Route 209, is allowing more pickups as needed.
"We can get what we can take, what we wanted and we can come back once a week until they're back into their facility," said Ansback.
"A relief, a total relief," said Debra King of Marshalls Creek.
King is also very glad the food pantry found a temporary location. She says her pantries were running very low.
After hearing Bushkill Outreach was forced to temporarily shut its doors, the community stepped in to help, donating boxes and boxes of food.
Parishioners from a local church also donated bags of food to make sure no one goes hungry.
"Lots of individual people are bringing food, so it's been kind of nice to see the community come out. Saw Creek Estates came in with a check for $1,600. This is really, really awesome," said Kate Newman, the director of Bushkill Outreach.
Bushkill Outreach will be located at the Reformed Church of Bushkill until they can move back into their building, which would be when the government shutdown ends.