KidsPak, the Loveland-based nonprofit that provides meals to children throughout the region, packed and delivered more meals in the past two weeks than it has in any week in its history.

Executive Director Bradley Craddock attributed the spike to the recent federal government shutdown, which included a freeze on benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

This Wednesday’s delivery included 782 bags, and the prior week’s delivery included 767, bringing the two-week total to 1,549 bags of food delivered. The week prior saw around 600 bags, which Craddock said is a more typical amount for this time of year.

“These last two weeks were definitely due to the SNAP suspension,” Craddock said. “Really just that uncertainty of people not knowing if they’re going to have resources. They might not be on SNAP, but maybe they’re worried about the food bank being extra busy.”

Craddock said that the nonprofit, founded in 2009, has grown to the point where it was able to easily handle the jump in demand, and began planning for it early in the shutdown.

“As soon as we started hearing the rumblings of the SNAP suspension, we started looking at our inventory, and then worked with the food bank, our volunteer groups who were willing to do extra packs or add to the packs that they were doing.”

Drivers also indicated that they could handle the additional deliveries, she said.

A call for more donations from the community also helped supplement the nonperishable food that the nonprofit had on hand.

“We really prepared and communicated, and knew that we’d be able to handle it week to week,” she said.

In fact, KidsPak was so comfortable with its capacity to provide meals that it encouraged its partners, schools and other drop-off sites where families know that they can receive meals for their children, to order more than they necessarily needed.

“We even told the schools to order a few extra, because there might be a family that isn’t on your radar, or a family that’s already getting a bag but might need two,” she said.

Craddock said she was unsure whether the demand would drop after SNAP benefits were renewed after the end of the shutdown earlier this month.

Some families might have used KidsPak for the first time during the shutdown and found that the extra food was a welcome help, she said.

“I think we could see a smaller drop, but I don’t think we’ll go back to where we were before, because people learned about us,” she said. “Even if they are getting other benefits, they might like KidsPak because it’s kid-friendly food that goes directly to kids.”