Twenty-five states told POLITICO that they are issuing notices informing participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative — that they won’t receive checks next month. Those states include California, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi and New Jersey. Others didn’t respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service recently told every state that they’d need to hold off on distributing benefits until further notice, according to multiple state agencies.

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Under SNAP, which serves more than 42 million people, families receive an average of $187.20 per month to pay for groceries. The pause in benefits would kick in just before the Thanksgiving holiday and add further strain on food banks and pantries during a typically busy season.

Even if lawmakers clinch a funding deal before the end of October, anti-hunger advocates and states expect a delay between the government reopening and state administrators being able to issue November’s benefits, after weeks of holding up the typical process. For example, Kansas’ Department for Children and Families told POLITICO that it would take at least three days to fully reboot the program.