The Community Foodbank of New Jersey is moving into what they consider to be disaster mode in anticipation of SNAP being cut off from families on Nov. 1.

The Community Foodbank of New Jersey serves 800 pantries statewide.

The foodbank is now seeking donations, fundraising and planning for a mass food distribution should SNAP funds run out.

Around 800,000 people in New Jersey rely on the federal program to help pay for groceries.

If the money isn’t loaded to accounts, pantries will see a surge in customers at a time when demand for food is already high.

“We do think that demand is going to surge dramatically. It’s already started to in anticipation. I think people have a lot of anxiety about the fact that they won’t have benefits. We’re starting to get more phone calls and have more people coming to our pantries,” said Elizabeth McCarthy, president of the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.

In an attempt to stop the benefit from running out, the state attorney general on Tuesday joined a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which argues that SNAP can continue through the shutdown.

The lawsuit sites billions of dollars in SNAP contingency money for just such an emergency.

In the meantime, anyone interested in donating time, food or money to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey can reach out to its website for more information.