Morrisey May Call Special Session If Shutdown Continues 

At a church in Charleston that operates a food pantry, Gov. Patrick Morrisey praised the West Virginia National Guard Tuesday for their work distributing food and supplies around the state. He pledged however that when the money set aside by the state is exhausted, he will call the West Virginia Legislature in for a special session to support the state’s food banks. 

“Last week, I mentioned that we have pledged a total of $14.1 million to fill in for the shortfalls for SNAP benefits,” he said. “We’ve already distributed $8.6 million of that. That’s in the hands of the food banks. And then on Friday, another $2.5 million went out the door.” 

Morrisey said the success of getting supplies to food pantries and popup food distribution centers has been due to a Guard effort. 

“This wouldn’t have been possible without the Guard. They’ve been on the ground providing logistics management and support to food pantries across the state,” he said. “They’re helping to receive, sort packages, transport and distribute food and keeping things safe and orderly.” 

Morrisey noted that a Guard unit was diverted from its delivery mission to help at an accident scene and put out a fire. 

“Here’s the good news, the money that we put out is covering the immediate needs of the food banks and the food pantries and also the anticipated needs in the upcoming days, that’s good news,” Morrisey said. “We’ve asked that the food pantry spend those funds locally with producers, grocery stores and retailers. We know that a number of West Virginia businesses are missing out on some of the regular sales through the SNAP program, and this influx should help fill the void.”

He said the West Virginia National Guard has 202 service members supporting the mission. They have delivered 6,653 boxes of food to food pantries throughout the state. They’ve supplied another 3,936 boxes directly to citizens at pop up food pantries. They’ve also delivered checks. 

Morrisey recognized corporate in-kind donations of fruit and milk. But he acknowledged that a delayed distribution of 50% SNAP benefits may cause the state to exhaust the money it has promised. 

“I can report that as of this morning, we had at least $300,000 in donations, combined with Facing Hunger Food Bank and Mountaineer Food Bank,” he said. “We also have additional private sector contributions. Mountain Top Beverage pledged to donate over 55,000 cartons of milk. There’s going to be a truck tomorrow filled with over $50,000 worth of fruit and vegetables from a company called R4 that’s coming in.”

Morrisey said his administration plans to keep ahead of the need for money and supplies. 

“If I determine that after the $14 million we need more resources, I will call the legislature back into session, and I will ensure that West Virginians don’t get hungry, period, full stop. Don’t let people tell you otherwise,” he said. 

Morrisey stressed that for anyone facing food insecurity, they should call 211 to find the resources they need. He also emphasized that people should use the QR codes to donate, which is how the state is tracking the amount of matching donations.