The Culinary Union’s food assistance program still sees steady traffic, underscoring the cash-strapped position many families find themselves in, union spokeswoman Bethany Khan said. Ninety-eight percent of the union’s 60,000 members across the state were furloughed at the beginning of the pandemic, she said. Only about half have been called back to work.

The free groceries allow people to put their unemployment benefits toward other expenses, such as rent, mortgage and car payments, Khan said.