Food banks and feeding centers across West Virginia are bracing for an influx of need in coming days as thousands of people will not receive their allotments of federal benefits on Nov. 1 and others continue to work without pay due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture — which operates the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — posted on its website over the weekend that “there will be no benefits issued” on Nov. 1.

“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the message reads. It goes on to openly and directly blame Democrats in Congress for the government shutdown, which started on Oct. 1.

Democrats in Congress have repeatedly voted against stopgap funding bills to reopen the government because they want a guarantee that certain health care subsidies will be extended and funded. Republicans don’t want those subsidies included, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

If they do expire, West Virginians will be particularly hurt, with thousands potentially losing their health insurance. Others could see premiums increase by an average of 133%.

President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday that it will not use any of the more than $5 billion available in SNAP contingency funds to support families and individuals who rely on SNAP to eat.

In West Virginia, about 270,000 people — or one in six residents — rely on SNAP to feed their families. More than 56% of those receiving the benefits are in families with children and 46% are in households with elderly or disabled people, according to the national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Earlier this month, the West Virginia Department of Human Services announced on social media that benefits would not be processed for anyone approved to receive SNAP after Oct. 16. November benefits, according to the post, were also expected to be indefinitely delayed.

Cyndi Kirkhart, executive director for the Facing Hunger Foodbank, said the benefits are a lifeline for thousands of families in West Virginia. Now, knowing that benefits won’t be available for them in coming days, the food bank and others across the state are grappling to meet what they expect to be a dramatic increase in community needs.

“For some people, we might be giving them the only food they can really get to eat for God knows how long,” Kirkhart said. “We’re already at the point right now where, in some places, we’re running low on food. We don’t have enough to meet the existing needs. Now, we’re going to have to figure out how to do even more with much, much less.”

In normal times — when people are receiving their benefits and when other federal employees are being paid for their work and able to afford food — West Virginia already faces high rates of food insecurity. According to Feeding America, more than 15% of people in the state regularly go without food.

And things have already gotten tighter for Facing Hunger over the past several months, Kirkhart said. Costs rising due to inflation have led more people to rely on food pantries and feeding centers to make their dollars go further.

“Everyone is trying to do more with less,” Kirkhart said. “This is unrelenting.”

As individuals have struggled, Kirkhart said Facing Hunger has as well. It’s more difficult to get nutritious, protein-rich foods in stock. When those options are available for purchase or through individual donations, they go fast.

Kirkhart said there’ve been numerous times where volunteers and employees at food giveaways have had to turn people away without food because of low supply.

“We’re asking people to split bags of potatoes, of apples, of whatever we do have because we’re showing up expecting to see 250 families but actually have 370 there in need,” Kirkhart said. “That’s the worst feeling in the world — telling people who are relying on you for help that you don’t have anything to spare today.”

This spring — as inflation rates kept prices soaring for grocery staples — the Trump administration cut more than $500 million in food deliveries for feeding services like Facing Hunger. Those who operate them were forced almost over night to adjust their expectations for deliveries and giveaways.

Now, Kirkhart said, the consequences of these changes through the USDA and increasing prices are likely going to get worse as thousands of other people who don’t often rely on the foodbanks for day-to-day staples find themselves in need.

“It’s all compounding together and I don’t know how we’re going to handle it,” Kirkhart said. “We don’t have enough on hand to provide for the fallout of [unavailable SNAP benefits].”

Steven Little, the assistant executive director at Huntington City Mission, a feeding center and ministry in Cabell County, said individuals there have already been forced to “get creative” with how they’re handing out food.

If they get a bag of apples, for instance, volunteers and workers are spending time turning them into apple sauce in order to meet the needs of their many elderly clients and others who may have teeth issues and need soft foods.

In general, Little said, there hasn’t been as much protein-rich meat or nutritious fruits and vegetables available. Last week — for the first time in years, he said — City Mission had to give out bologna sandwiches for lunch.

“That’s something, but it’s not the nutrition that we really want to be providing and it’s not the kind of food that is going to meet the really dire needs of some of our clients,” Little said. “Something is better than nothing, yes, but I think we all know that we can’t keep going like this.”

And as these situations compound, individuals in communities have stepped up as much as they can.

Yeager International Airport is holding a food and supply drive on Nov. 4 for the numerous federal employees who are going without pay due to the shutdown.

Jamason Sparks, who owns and operates eight grocery stores throughout the greater Kanawha Valley area, announced on Facebook that his stores will be giving away free meal bags to anyone in need starting Nov. 10.

Sparks started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help purchase supplies for the free meal bags on Friday. By Monday, more than $24,000 was raised by more than 340 people for the initiative.

Kirkhart said it’s encouraging to see so many across several communities step up — through donations, volunteering or just information sharing — step up and support those in need.

It’s still difficult, however, to envision what could happen with existing community needs and the organizations that exist to meet those needs long term.

Kirkhart is already making adjustments to prepare for changes that are set to take place next year from the Republican-backed “Big Beautiful Bill” that passed congress over the summer.

And as those in Congress are deadlocked over health care subsidies that could particularly impact West Virginians, Kirkhart is weighing how those potential changes will impact her nonprofit as well.

Health insurance is likely to get more expensive, increasing costs for Facing Hunger.

The organization and other feeding agencies were set to receive thousands of dollars in state funds to support and cover operational costs.

Last week, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that he would be expediting payouts from those already allocated funds.

While Kirkhart said she’s grateful to have access to the money, it’s clear that it must be spent as soon as possible on food and other supplies to meet the organization’s growing needs. How things will be paid for in the future, she said, is unfortunately going to become a problem for another day.

“Every dollar we spend in one place now is a dollar we can’t spend on something else tomorrow. We understand that, and the best place to put our dollars at this time is clearly on food for the community,” Kirkhart said. “We know how many people are already hungry and we need to prepare for others who are going to be newly hungry. That’s the reality of where we’re at, and unless something changes soon, that’s where we’re going to be for some time.”

Through what Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, called “dirty tricks” in the last 30 minutes of the 2025 regular session, Republican lawmakers in the Senate passed a bill Saturday to ban nearly all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the state of West Virginia.

The bill passed the House at 10:41 p.m. after nearly three hours of debate.

When the bill advanced to the Senate, 13 amendments from Garcia appeared to be pending on the legislation.

Then, confusion reigned.

Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, made a motion to suspend legislative Joint Rule 3 — a rule that governs how amendments to amendments and disagreements are handled between the two legislative chambers. That motion was adopted and the Senate then concurred with and passed the House’s version of the bill 31-2 without any consideration of Garcia’s amendments.

After a short break — and as several attorneys and the chamber’s parliamentarian gathered at Senate President Randy Smith’s podium — Tarr withdrew his initial motion to suspend legislative Joint Rule 3 due to a technical error. The vote would need to be done again.

Another member then moved the previous question to consider the Joint Rule 3 motion again and concur with and pass the House’s version of Senate Bill 474. Again, the Senate voted 31-2 approving the bill.

As motion after confusing motion was considered, the microphones for both Garcia and Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell — the lone no votes on the bill — were muted while they attempted to call points of order on Tarr’s motions as well as Smith’s rulings.

In an interview after the chaos, Smith, R-Preston, said he also didn’t quite understand the legislative procedures that led to the passage of SB 474. His job, he said, is to preside over the body and the process, but other people tell him what is within the rules and not.

“This was a procedure I’ve never seen in my 13 years in the House or the Senate,” Smith said “… We have a parliamentarian who knows the rules very well, probably better than anybody in the Senate. Sen. Tarr knows the procedure very well … As far as I’m concerned, as the procedure and rules, everything was in order.”

If it wasn’t, Smith said, someone will need to challenge the law’s legitimacy in court. But for now, it heads to Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s desk for approval.

Garcia, in an interview after the Senate adjourned Sine Die for the session, said he believed there is a “legal deficiency” in the legislation.

“I have questions whether this bill actually did pass,” Garcia said. “… [Republicans in the Senate] will take short cuts, break rules, whatever it takes to get their agenda passed.”

Senate Bill 474 bans the offering of specific services or opportunities to people based on their race, color, ethnicity, country of origin and, in some instances, sex.

The bill only applies to DEI policies and initiatives in state and local governments and schools, including institutions of higher education.

Garcia’s attempt to hold up the bill came after his colleagues in the House — mostly Democrats — employed similar tactics. There, 27 amendments were filed by lawmakers. Just three of those were adopted.

Those voted down included moves to include the Crown Act — a policy banning discrimination based on hairstyles and textures — in the bill, as well as adding nondiscrimination measures based on political beliefs and exempting parts of the bill from applying to veterans, among other measures.

Democrats in the body gave fiery speeches against the overall bill, namely Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, who is one of just three Black lawmakers in the state Legislature.

Hamilton told her colleagues that DEI measures are not about giving people of color or other classes special treatment; they’re about ensuring everyone has equal ability to apply for and access the same opportunities.

She shared her experiences dealing with system racism in West Virginia and, specifically, at the Legislature. Her points were echoed by her colleagues, Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, and Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, who are also Black.

Not recognizing the existence of racism or sexism, Hamilton said, will only hold West Virginia back.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion matters,” Hamilton said. “If we don’t embrace these principles, we don’t have a bone in the race of this Backyard Brawl. We’ll continue to lose every year … I just pray that we can not only abolish this legislation, we can abolish the mentality and ideology that goes along with it, and the energy.”

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.