In a county that has been used as a model by others to fill gaps for those who lost benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, officials held another food drive at City Market.

The drive was the third large collection drive spearheaded by Teller County; the first was in October at Walmart in anticipation of heightened food insecurity of more than 3,000 county residents, many of them elderly or disabled.

The second was in October at Walmart, this one a response to the government shutdown.

Last week, there was a third food drive, with city and county officials, the sheriff, deputies, firefighters and friends collecting food at City Market.

“People shopping came out of the store to give us food,” said Carl Andersen who, with his wife Shannon, was collecting, hauling and loading boxes of food. “People could see us from the highway and knew something was going on.”

There was a feeling of camaraderie among the participants that morning, a counteract to the emergency caused by the loss of SNAP. “People who can least afford it are giving us shopping carts full of food,” said Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams.

While the government re-opened that day, officials expect a long road to full recovery for the beneficiaries.