As the government shutdown drags on leaders in Southern California are warning residents that the federal food assistance program known as SNAP could run out of funding and recipients might not receive full benefits in November.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to safeguard access to CalFresh for the nearly 1.5 million county residents, who rely on the state’s program to help feed their families.

In Orange County, there are more than 300,000 people who rely on the CalFresh program. The mayor of Laguna Woods, like many of her neighbors who live on fixed incomes, is worried the government shutdown will continue.

How many recipients rely on CalFresh benefits across Southern California, according to data from June:

Los Angeles County: more than 1.5 million peopleVentura County: more than 78,000 peopleOrange County: more than 300,000 peopleRiverside County: more than 346,000 peopleSan Bernardino County: more than 377,000 people

“We’re very concerned. There’s a lot of people here that depend on that,” said CalFresh recipient Shari Horne.

Horne, who cares for her husband with disabilities, receives $220 on her EBT card the first week of each month to buy groceries. She uses that money to buy vegetables, rice, fresh fruit and meat.

Orange County leaders said if the government isn’t funded by Thursday, there will be a delay in CalFresh money distributed from the government to the states and eventually individual counties.

“About $62 million a month is what is distributed into the Orange County economy through these EBT cards at grocers,” said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley. “That $62 million actually equates to more than $100 million a month into our local economy.

Foley added that 95% of all the small businesses in the county are family-owned and they will not be getting the revenue due to the shutdown.

Horne said she was caught off guard and wonders if other seniors in Laguna Woods know that their CalFresh payments are in jeopardy.

“It’s very challenging and I hadn’t thought about what we do because I didn’t know that this was going to happen,” Horne said.

The director of Orange County Social Services said if the government shutdown stretches into mid-November, it’s quite possible that CalFresh recipients could lose the entire monthly payment as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches.

Orange County officials said if people need food, they should call 211.