CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Supplemental food benefits will not be issued for November due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, and food banks and other local non-profits are bracing for what’s to come.
“The unknown makes people nervous and anxious,” said John Roberts with Mountain Mission in Charleston.
“We know about the shutdown, we know about the SNAP benefit reduction and all of that, but we don’t know how everything is going to play out. You have to plan for the worst and then pray for the best,” he continued.
Roughly 275,000 West Virginia residents are supported by SNAP benefits. Those individuals are set to lose those benefits on Saturday.
Roberts says he and other volunteers at Mountain Mission are getting ready for a lot of requests over the next couple of weeks.
“We are gearing up. We’ve already made some additional purchases of food gearing up for an uptick in requests,” he said. “On top of this, for Christmas, we’re preparing to feed over 1,200 families throughout Kanawha County.”
As benefits evaporate, West Virginia 211 — which works with the United Way — will be serving as a lifeline for families facing food insecurity come Saturday.
According to a WV 211 release, residents can call 2-1-1 or text their ZIP code to 898-211 to connect with trained Community Resource Specialists. The service will also offer an online database that provides thousands of listings for food and other necessities.
“We have a lot of scared individuals that just don’t know where their next meal is going to come from or how they’re going to feed their children, and it’s really important to them to figure that out,” said Terry Cooper with WV 211.
On Tuesday, Governor Patrick Morrisey announced a donation drive through Mountaineer Food Bank and Facing Hunger Food Bank with matching state funding of up to $13 million. He called on state residents to step up, saying “West Virginians in the past have shown that they come together in times like this.”
That announcement came about a week after he announced the state would expedite $1.1 million of already-appropriated emergency funding to food banks.
In West Virginia, about $47 million goes onto EBT cards during a given month.
Delegate Kayla Young, D-Kanawha says the state matching funds isn’t a good enough effort.
“I think it’s a good thing that we’re giving money directly to the food banks. I’m fine with that, the match is what I have the issue with,” Young said on MetroNews Midday.
She maintains that the state has the money to cover that $47 million and funds need to be guaranteed in this situation.
“The reality is, we have the money to cover this. We have the money in the rainy-day fund. He (Morrisey) probably has the money in the contingency fund. All we’re asking is that he guarantees that this money goes out,” Young said. “A match — if private donations are willing and able to meet it — is not enough. We have to guarantee that the children and the elderly and the veterans that are on food assistance are being fed. That’s our job.”
On Wednesday, Morrisey explained why the state is doing what it’s doing.
“I want to double down. We fully expect we’re going to expend that $13 million, but we don’t know how long the shutdown will go on. What we’re trying to do is leverage those dollars to drive it even further,” he said.
On the national side, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito says she’ll vote to pass a bill to keep SNAP benefits flowing during the shutdown if it comes before her.
“There’s lots of people that need SNAP benefits, the elderly or the disabled or those that are just kind of struggling. I would vote in favor of that if that comes up. It may in the next several days,” Capito said.