The global trade war set off by President Trump is affecting just about everyone, but particularly those already struggling with everyday needs.
Social service agencies that help the needy are seeing more demand than ever. And now those agencies fear possible increases in food and other costs, plus cut-backs in government funding and private donations.
They say it's making the fight to survive, in our region of plenty, harder than ever.
Places like the Interfaith Charities pantry in San Carlos Park have become the front lines in fighting high food costs. The pantry serves people like Mirtha Saucedo.
"if we can get food from the pantry, we can save money for another thing,' she said. "For example, the electricity bill, the water bill, you know."
Saucedo's husband works as a landscape supervisor, and they have two school-age sons.
She said the household budget is pretty much a bust, with almost nothing left over week to week. She likened it to being swallowed by a flood.
"I feel like the water is going up, and going up, " she said, moving her hand up to her mouth and nose, indicating she was going under, as if drowning in high prices.
Lisa Swanson runs the non-profit Interfaith Charities in the south-central part of Lee County.
"Some of the stories will just break your heart," she said. "I can't even imagine having to tell my children or child that there just is no more food for the evening. Even if they are hungry, there is no more. I also can't imagine being a senior and having to choose between filling a prescription or buying food, and putting food on the table for yourself. Those are the impossible choices that we see families having to make all the time."
At the food pantry, client Francine Ryan worries tariffs will drive up prices of electronics and toys, to name just two things.
"Ninety percent of everything comes from China," she said. "Could be shoes, could be clothes. Maybe you need a cabinet, different things, little things around the house. Whatever you need, you should get it. Put the shoes in your closet for later, when the prices could be much higher. You need a laptop or tablet? Get it now."
The end result of the trade war is uncertain. But the people at the pantry said there's no mystery about another issue: the need for food; it is growing fast.
Interfaith Charities said about 450 families are registered at the pantry. That's the most ever. Each family gets one box of food a week.
The pantry seems to set new records all the time. It had 149 vehicles come through the food line the first Saturday in April; Interfaith says that number was about 40 cars a year ago.
On a recent Wednesday about 100 vehicles came through the line to get a box of food. That was in a four-hour period.
Volunteers like Russ Schomp distribute the food.
"The mission statement of Interfaith is: providing hope and help to those in need," Schomp said. "And that's exactly what we do."
Analuna Nanasca is the paid manager at the pantry. She said dealing with so much need can be draining for volunteers.
"But I don't think I know of someone who is burned out," Nanasca said. "Sure we all are tired at the end of the day. But we all come back."
Director Swanson also is grateful for volunteers.
"It's the human heart that keeps this place afloat," she said.
But she worries the major grocery stores, which donate truckloads of left-over or soon-to-be out-of-date food to the pantry, will run short because of tariffs.
"What is that going to look like this summer if the stores are stocking even less?" she said. "Because number one, they can't get it, or they don't want to pay the price that they have to pay to stock it? I don't know what that is going to look like. And that is really, really scary."
Mirtha Saucedo gives back to Interfaith by teaching two classes a week in English as a second language. She does it for free.
But she also knows: she has to do something else before the family budget drowns in rising costs.
"I need to get a job because I need to help my husband," she said. "The prices are crazy."
Interfaith Charities of South Lee County can be reached at (239) 267-3510.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. Mike Walcher is a reporter at WGCU, and also teaches journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University.