BATON ROUGE — Thousands of people showed up to the East Baton Rouge Parish Council on Aging's drive-thru food giveaway event on Monday, hosted as the government shutdown continues and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits remain suspended. 

Council on Aging's event attracted a large crowd, with cars from the drive-thru spilling into the road. 

"We’re responding to the SNAP benefit suspension by ensuring our seniors have access to essential food resources," officials said.

The Council on Aging's event was held at the group's Lotus Headquarters at 965 North 18th Street, starting at 10 a.m.