Looming SNAP cuts worry more than just Coloradans who depend on the benefits. Small grocery stores could be affected, too.

Twelve hours a day, 27-year-old Urja Paudel runs a little store she bought in March near the corner of 33rd Avenue and Holly Street in Denver.

"It is a rough neighborhood, yeah. So there wasn't a lot of people who were, like, willing to buy it," she explained. "We were looking around and I thought about it for a while and I was like 'OK, I think I could do it.'"

Things have been okay so far. In the neighborhood she hasn't had much trouble. It's possible, she thinks, that the neighbors really want her there in a shopping plaza where other businesses are closed.

"A lot of people in this neighborhood, they walk here. This is the closest walkable market that we have," Paudel said.

There's food on the shelves. She feels like a community resource. Now with the U.S. Department of Agriculture posting notice that federal food aid will not go out starting Saturday, Nov. 1, blaming the government shutdown, it leaves open a big hole. About 70% of the customers at the Holly Market use Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, says Paudel.

"I kind of thought they would do something about it, you know, because so many people are going hungry. It's about to be Thanksgiving," said Paudel.

The Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits flowing into November. That program helps about one in eight Americans buy groceries and would have paid out approximately $120 million in food aid to Coloradans for November.

"I think we can't pretend that this gap can be filled," said Anya Rose, director of public policy for Hunger Free Colorado. The state is moving to fill about $10 million of that, but it leaves a wide hole. Food banks are gearing up for increased requests but could get overwhelmed she believes.

"It's also at an entirely different scale. So for every meal that a food bank provides, SNAP is providing nine," said Rose. "Obviously it is a really scary time for people who are not going to get their SNAP benefits on time in November," said Rose.

There are about 3,000 retailers accepting SNAP benefits in the state. Some are larger retailers. Others are small corner stores that fill roles in places that might otherwise be considered a food desert. The money is amplified through the economy, to retailers and farmers. Stopping that will affect them.

"A lot of these small and independent retailers operate on really thin margins," Rose explained.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do," said Paudel. "We have to pay rent, electricity, upkeep, all of that stuff. And we do want to have stuff in stock if people are going to need it, but we just don't know if we're going to be able to do that."

Already she has moved to skip stocking produce.

"Yes I do care about them," Paudel explained about the people in the neighborhood. "We can survive this month, I mean, barely you know. Thankfully. I'm worried about everybody else. Feeding their kids, feeding themselves."

She is frustrated with government at a time when she sees people who need a hand.

"I kind of thought they would do something about it you know, because so many people are going hungry. It's about to be Thanksgiving."