Inflation, federal cuts still impact SWVA food assistance

GATE CITY – Virginia dodged much of the impact from the October-November federal shutdown's stoppage of food assistance after Gov. Glenn Youngkin stepped in with emergency funding for the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Even with SNAP benefits back on track for December, officials at three organizations handling that aid in Scott County agree that inflation and continuing federal funding cuts are not helping matters for people needing food help. Scott County Department of Social Services Just over 5,000 Scott County residents in 2,608 households received a total of $6.7 million in SNAP benefits in the fiscal year ending June 30, Scott County Social Services Director Lana Mullins said Monday. That money may not go as far as some might think, she added. A household with one or two elderly residents may be eligible for as little as $24 per month, Mullins said, while a family of four may receive $994. Federal guidelines and restrictions limit SNAP use to basic foods, she added. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a typical U.S. family of four with two adults age 19-50 and two children age 9-11 in September could spend a monthly food budget of $1,332 under what the department calls a "moderate food plan," or $1,140 under a "low-cost plan." "We've had several families expressing concerns about inflation and rising food costs compared to their SNAP benefits," said Mullins.Even though Youngkin's November emergency SNAP funding order provided approximately 850,000 recipients their benefits before federal funds were released, Mullins said all received their funds a few days after the normal disbursement date. Scott County Ministerial Association Food Pantry Area supermarkets and stores are still donating food to the SCMA Food Pantry, director Kevin Barnett said Monday as he got back from a food pickup run to Lee County. The logistics of getting, storing and distributing that food are getting costlier, Barnett added. "Feeding Southwest Virginia has stepped up their support to pantries like ours and supermarkets are being generous in their contributions," said Barnett. "The logistics and being able to distribute the food are what's getting more difficult. The van I'm using for pickups doesn't have a third gear and a new transmission is going to cost about $5,000. Our other van is having alternator problems and is in the garage." "It's nice that we're getting donations of food, but a two-hour trip to get a donation is placing stress on our vehicles." Rising utility costs are contributing to the approximately $50,000 annual cost to run the Food Pantry's building, Barnett said. Getting more volunteers to help with food pantry operations is also difficult, he said. "We've been at this for 20 years, and we're seeing volunteers who have passed on or who keep helping even with medical issues. We can always use more volunteers." Duffield Food Hub Appalachian Sustainable Development's Appalachian Harvest program supplies approximately 2,000 food boxes weekly to families in need. Trump administration USDA cuts starting in the spring stopped much of a $1.5 million grant for the program's Duffield Food Hub. ASD Development Director Sylvia Crum said the Food Hub is operating on the remains of a $500,000 Richard and Leslie Gilliam Foundation for working with ASD on a $500,000 grant for regional food access work. While the Gilliam Foundation grant has allowed continued food box distribution, said Crum, the weekly number of boxes is now 1,500 a week. "Many vehicles at our Duffield distribution on Fridays may be picking up for two, three or four families," said Crum, "but now we have limited boxes to two per carload to feed folks for a week. We don't want to turn away anybody, and we should have enough money to make food boxes into the spring." ASD is working on other grant applications with a range of private foundations and groups and watching for any available federal grants, Crum said. "It's never been so uncertain for federal funding, though," Crum said. Crum said ASD organization has begun a fundraising and social media campaign for the two weeks leading to the national Giving Tuesday event on Dec. 2. A donor has provided $45,000 for a one-to-one match for other donors during the campaign. "The federal funding situation has slowed us down, yeah, but we're trying to be smarter with getting funding," said Crum. "We've had a few less people in our workforce development program at the Food Hub, but we're using more volunteers to help with food boxes. "It's been a challenging year, but our team has been creative and resourceful." More on ASD's Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign: asdevelop.org/donate