A mile-long line for free food offers a warning as covid benefits end

© Reshma Kirpalani/The Washington Post Danny and Flora Blair wait in their truck for free food with the Hazel Green Food Project in Hazel Green. Over the past year, 18 states, including Kentucky, ended official states of emergency and rescinded the covid food benefit. In Hazel Green, Nicky Stacy initially launched the Hazel Green Food Project in February 2021 in response to a series of devastating flash floods in eastern Kentucky. After Kentucky’s emergency food benefits expired, Stacy said interest in the Hazel Green Food Project’s bimonthly giveaways soared as residents from Wolfe County and surrounding communities realized they had less money to buy food. © Reshma Kirpalani/The Washington Post Free food is distributed at the Hazel Green Food Project.