Area Foodbanks Struggle To Meet Increased Demand

When the Huntington-based Facing Hunger Foodbank had a mobile pantry distribution last week, people showed up six hours early. An estimated 370 people came – almost double the usual number. 

What they got was far less than normal.

“They were unhappy that we were very low,” said CEO Cyndi Kirkhart. “People had sat for a long time waiting for food. They show up early, at five o’clock for an 11 o’clock start. They turn their cars off so they’re not wasting gas. They bring blankets and stuff so that they’re warm. And then to meet them with very limited food resources is something that keeps me up at night, for sure. Keeps my team very concerned.” 

But it’s not likely to change in the near future.

In West Virginia Facing Hunger operates in Boone, Cabell, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, McDowell, Mingo, Putnam, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. They distribute food through nearly 300 partners including soup kitchens, neighborhood centers, family crisis centers and homeless shelters for adults and children. 

It’s never easy. But there were significant cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) earlier this year. Now there’s a federal government shutdown – thousands of workers in this state are going without paychecks and benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may not come next week. 

“We have never been able to provide and fill total need like someone could if they had resources to go to a grocery store. But this feels much worse,” Kirkhart said .

“Our pantries are reporting exponential growth. One pantry, their typical distribution was 30 households. Their distribution last week was over 60. We had another pantry generally in the 40 to 60 range, sometimes 80, but they had well over 170,” she said.

She doesn’t think Facing Hunger will run out of food in the coming weeks, but those in need will get much less than before – including at the holidays.

“We lined up turkeys and hams to purchase for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Kirkhart said. “I didn’t plan for this because without SNAP benefits, people are going to look for the entirety of their holiday meal versus what we can offset by providing the meat. So we’re scrambling.

The rest of the meal, she said, may have to come from somewhere else this year.