Facing Hunger Foodbank Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Understanding The Scope Of W.Va. Food Insecurity, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Briana Heaney spoke with Cindi Kirkhart, the chief executive officer of the Facing Hunger Foodbank, and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, to help us better understand food insecurity issues in the state.

On this West Virginia Morning, Tuesday was Facing Hunger Day at the Capitol. Both major food banks in the state were joined by local food pantries to promote legislative priorities. According to the USDA, more than 1 in 4 children are food insecure in the United States. In West Virginia and Kentucky, at least 78,800 seniors are living in poverty.

To continue this discussion, Briana Heaney invited Cindi Kirkhart, the chief executive officer of the Facing Hunger Foodbank, and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, to help us better understand the scope of the problem.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Eric Douglas produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

W.Va. Farmer-Food Bank Flap Focuses On Lack Of Contract

Both of West Virginia’s major food banks purchase fresh produce from West Virginia farmers. But a farmer-food bank flap had some social media pages heated up recently and demonstrated the value of a written contract.

Both of West Virginia’s major food banks purchase fresh produce from West Virginia farmers. But a farmer-food bank flap had some social media pages heated up recently, and demonstrated the value of a written contract.

Monroe County’s Sunset Berry Farm is a family-run operation that, until this year, had not made any large volume sales. Farm Manager Jennifer Gilkerson said they are working to expand their produce products.

“We specialize in strawberries,” Gilkerson said. “But we can grow other vegetables. We sort of switch up what we grow each year. We have 95 peach trees, so we’re trying to develop a nice peach program at our farm.”

Gilkerson said earlier this year she got a call from a case manager at the Mountaineer Food Bank (MFB), a regional food distributor with headquarters in Gassaway. Gilkerson said the case manager asked if Sunset Berry Farm could supply food to be purchased with a federal grant coming in.

“She said that if they got the grant, they would be buying as much as we could possibly grow,” Gilkeson said. “And then she bought strawberries from us for the entire strawberry season, which is about six weeks.”

However, Gilkerson said in transitioning from strawberry to vegetable season, Mountaineer Food Bank’s “buy all you can grow” statement turned into “no more buying from you.”

“They expelled us from the program,” Gilkerson said. “Didn’t tell us why, did not give us a chance to problem solve and didn’t tell us what the problems were and didn’t let us fix any problems. Just, you’re done. We had $14,000 worth of vegetables in our cooler that were supposed to be delivered the next day.”

Gilkerson said the farm made a healthy investment in equipment and workers, anticipating the food bank’s continued produce purchases. But there was one big thing the farm did not do. Gilkeson was frank about not having a contract with MFB.

“You know what? Because I’m stupid,” Gilkerson said. “Erica (the case manager), in an email, said no food would be turned away, that they had $3.3 million that they had to spend within three years and we trusted the Mountaineer Food Bank.”

Mountaineer Food Bank CEO Chad Morrison responded to WVPB’s questions on the issue with an emailed statement. Morrison said the food bank has not entered into written or verbal contracts with vendors to guarantee the purchase of produce, but has successfully collaborated with hundreds, if not thousands, of food suppliers, including many farmers. Morrison said in the email that MFB has complied with the applicable grant guidelines for all purchases. He did not address why the relationship with Sunset Berry Farm ended.

Across the state, Cindi Kirkhart, CEO of the Facing Hunger Food Bank out of Huntington, saw a Facebook post from Jennifer Gilkerson on the issue. Kirkhart said fresh berries and numerous other products are a challenge for food banks to buy at such volume. So, she contacted Sunset Berry farm.

“I did reach out and advise them that certainly we would be interested in purchasing the product,” Kirkhart said. “I think they have 50,000 strawberry plants and if each plant yields a pound, that’s 50,000 pounds of strawberries. In the southern coalfields where we are, we have not been able to provide that kind of volume.”

Kirkhart also said her food bank does not have formal contracts with the farmers they are purchasing from right now.

“But we do have specified inventory items that we lean on pretty heavily,” Kirkhart said. “I’m certainly glad to engage with folks so that they can do budget planning and those types of things.”

Facing Hunger Food Bank and Sunset Berry Farm plan to meet and see if they can work out a produce purchasing agreement with a contract – or maybe not.

$10 Million In Reserves For W.Va. Food Banks Now Activated

The Posey Perry Emergency Food Fund is named for Gov. Jim Justice’s uncle, who volunteered to help feed the hungry for much of his life.

In his Thursday media briefing, Justice announced that the reserved $10 million, allocated from the current state budget, was now heading to the Mountaineer and Facing Hunger food banks.

“The food pantries will coordinate with the food banks, and we’ll get this money to them and hopefully be able to help a lot of folks,” Justice said.

Both food bank directors say this funding release will offer community partners needed resources to purchase food during a critical time of the year.

“The commitment to fighting hunger in West Virginia exhibited by the governor’s office is truly commendable,” Chad Morrison, CEO of Mountaineer Food Bank, said. “We eagerly anticipate the positive impact the Posey Perry Emergency Food Fund will have on those struggling with hunger in our state.”

Cyndi Kirkhart, executive director of Facing Hunger Foodbank, echoed the appreciation and the need.

“We understand that the work will continue and that we will always support the governor’s wishes for us to move toward living outside of poverty and diminished resources by pursuing food access infrastructure resources for ourselves, our community partners and our neighbors who live across our service areas, but remain at the center of our work,” Kirkhart said.

Pantries associated with both the Mountaineer Food Bank and Facing Hunger Foodbank networks are encouraged to seek funding by contacting these organizations directly.

Federal Government Shutdown Will Affect W.Va. Families, Seniors

The looming federal government shutdown will have a major effect on some of West Virginia’s most vulnerable: the very young and the elderly, when it comes to putting healthy food on the table.

The looming federal government shutdown will have a major effect on some of West Virginia’s most vulnerable, the very young and the elderly, when it comes to putting healthy food on the table.

The state’s two major food banks, Facing Hunger in Huntington and the Mountaineer Food Bank in Gassaway, help more than a quarter million people in need.

Facing Hunger Food Bank CEO Cyndi Kirkhart said a shutdown would immediately stop checks and meals going to tens of thousands in the WIC, or Women Infants and Children and Meals on Wheels for seniors programs.

“There’s about 37,300 individuals in our region’s WIC program,” Kirkhart said. “Out of that number, 7,592 are women. There are 21,313 children. And then the infant’s number is 8,387. With a shutdown, the benefits will stop with immediacy.”

She said WIC families losing about $200 a month will not have the specific purchasing ability for earmarked nutritional food resources.

“All those important foods, like milk, juice, cereal, those things that families rely on to have healthy children, suddenly become out of reach,” Kirkhart said.

Kirkhart said most of the seniors getting Meals on Wheels lack mobility.

We have about 57,000 seniors that qualify for federally-funded programs,” Kirkhart said. “Many rely on Meals on Wheels to bring meals into their homes. What meals they don’t get from the Meals on Wheels program, they’re going to turn to the food banks, and other charitable food programs to supplant those missing meals.”

Kirkhart said depleted West Virginia Food Bank inventories still have not recovered from the pandemic, from inflation, from cutbacks and other societal variables.

“Everyone is feeling the pain of high inflation and high fuel prices so charitable giving starts to drop,” she said. “We pay more for the food that we purchase. We can’t buy as much as we have historically. And we’re trying to expand programming to do home deliveries to the seniors at a very critical time. So, it’s quite a perfect storm.”

Kirkhart said the Facing Hunger Food Bank has strategically planned for purchases to help those who may be in immediate need.

“We have things lined up to make additional purchases of those very food products that focus on WIC and our seniors enjoy,” she said.

Kirkhart said people with questions on food availability can contact the Facing Hunger Food Bank at 304-523-6029. Or contact the Mountaineer Food Bank at 304-364-5518.

Advocates Bring Hunger Issues To W.Va. Legislature As Senate Committee Advances Summer Feeding Program

According to food bank network Feeding America, one in eight people in West Virginia face hunger every day. Advocates brought the issue to the Capitol Thursday during the legislature’s Hunger Free Day.

According to food bank network Feeding America, one in eight people in West Virginia face hunger every day. Advocates brought the issue to the Capitol Thursday during the West Virginia Legislature’s Hunger Free Day.

The Facing Hunger Foodbank estimates it serves 130,000 West Virginians each year. Mountaineer Food Bank estimates more than 200,000 West Virginians struggle with food insecurity every day.

With the rising cost of food only worsening hunger in the state, both organizations came to the legislature Thursday to advocate for solutions.

“This day is really about our hungry neighbors,” said Chad Morrison, chief executive officer of Mountaineer Food Bank. “Folks out there are struggling, and the need for food is at an all time high. We want to be here at the Capitol to make sure that our legislators know that need’s out there, that it’s consistent. We’re seeing record numbers of people… and right now it’s a real struggle for us to meet all those needs.”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported food costs increased more than 10 percent in 2022. Morrison said the legislature can help by increasing the resources available to food banks and pantries, and facilitate connections to local producers to reduce cost and keep spending in the community.

“There’s just a lot of different opportunities for them to get engaged and we’re hopeful,” he said. “We’re hopeful that this year there is another work group around hunger as there was last session, and that’s going to spur some more discussions about food insecurity in the state.”

Liv Brunello is part of the Voices of Hunger group from the Food for All Coalition.

“I think it’s a really aspirational title, you know, like, we want West Virginia to be Hunger Free,” she said. “But at the same time, it’s a patchwork effort. It’s volunteers and senior citizens and people from all different parts of the community coming together to try to figure it out. We believe in a future where food is recognized as a human right by our state. Where people really are hunger-free, where we don’t need to patchwork everything together. Where everyone has nutritious, affordable access to the food that they and their family want to eat.”

Brunello said she wants to see the legislature and the state as a whole take more aggressive action, such as passing an amendment to the state constitution declaring food a human right.

For now, the legislature is sticking to more immediate action.

Earlier in the day, the Senate Education Committee advanced Senate Bill 306, which would establish the Summer Feeding for All Program.

Committee Chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, is the bill’s co-sponsor. She said the bill will hopefully help counties and schools better identify hungry students and how best to help them.

“The Summer Feeding Program isn’t really a program where the counties go out and feeds students, most counties already do that,” Grady said. “What it does is it provides an assessment tool where counties can look and say, ‘Do we have food insecurity in certain areas? Do we have organizations, churches, community places that are offering to help with this? And if we don’t, who can we look to, to make sure we’re helping, or can we use our resources to make sure these kids are fed?’”

Grady said it can be hard for people not involved in the school system to see just how big the issue of hunger is for West Virginia’s students. As a teacher, she knows that when students are hungry, they have a harder time learning.

“We’re focusing a whole lot on improving student success in our schools,” Grady said. “We need to be climbing up, we need to bring our students up and we have to understand if their basic needs aren’t met, which is hunger, food insecurity, they’re not going to be able to learn. Addressing that is taking care of the whole child and giving them the opportunities they need to make sure they are successful.”

Hunters Encouraged To Donate Deer Meat To Combat Hunger

The Division of Natural Resources sponsors the Hunters Helping the Hungry Program, which provides thousands of pounds of venison to needy families across the state.

Hunters are encouraged to donate deer meat in order to help families around the state in need of food.

The Division of Natural Resources sponsors the Hunters Helping the Hungry Program, which provides thousands of pounds of venison to needy families across the state.

One in seven adults in West Virginia struggle with hunger.

Hunters who wish to participate in the program can take their deer to a participating meat processor and the venison will be donated to the state’s food banks.

The Mountaineer Food Bank and Facing Hunger Foodbank pick up the venison and distribute it to their statewide network of 600 charitable food pantries, senior centers, shelters, churches and more.

According to the WVDNR, more than 1 million pounds of meat has been provided to needy families and individuals throughout West Virginia.