WHEELING — On a chilly Thursday morning dozens of vehicles began to line up in the parking lot of Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, the drivers patiently waiting for what they were about to receive.

They weren’t there to gamble, but instead to get the life-sustaining food delivered by a large truck from the Mountaineer Food Bank.

Volunteers unloaded the boxes and turned the site into an assembly line of sorts. The vehicles were directed to one of two lines and their trunks were filled with produce such as grapes and potatoes, meats, bread, cereal and other goods.

Volunteer Ashley Gummer said they anticipated seeing about 220 families come through the line by the end of the hour.

Gummer, a volunteer from The Health Plan, said the number was expected to be higher because people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are preparing to go without the assistance starting in November.

“With the SNAP benefit uncertain right now we’re seeing more people turn out than we have in past months,” she said. “They were lined up before we got here, before the truck even got here.”

Gummer said it has been fulfilling to volunteer during the distributions.

“Everyone who comes through is grateful,” she said. “Some people are in tears as you hand them their food. They thank you so much. It means so much to have this resource for them in the community and to give back to them when they’re in a time of need.”

Much like the Mountaineer Food Bank, the Ohio Valley’s local food pantries have always stepped up to feed the region’s needy, and now that SNAP benefits are set to stop for thousands of residents across the region, they are preparing to help even more people.

The SNAP benefits will not be available in November because of the current federal government shutdown. According to published reports, during government shutdowns in 2018 and 2019 SNAP benefits were allocated ahead of time to prevent people from going without them.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morissey announced recently he will expedite $1.1 million of appropriated and emergency funding to the state’s food banks because of the SNAP benefits delay.

Salvation Army Major Eric Roberts, who oversees the organization’s operations in Brooke and Hancock counties, said it’s too soon to say whether a delay in SNAP allotments for local residents will result in a demand for the Salvation Army’s food distribution programs.

But he said its food pantries in Weirton and Wellsburg are stocked in case there is increased need.

“We haven’t seen an uptick yet. I’m thinking if we do, it will be in late November. If it happens, we’re ready,” he said.

Roberts noted the Salvation Army, as a private, nonprofit organization, doesn’t receive federal funds but it does receive food through the Mountaineer Food Bank, which does.

He said Morissey’s allocation of emergency funds for such food banks is good news.

Roberts said about 56 households in the two counties receive monthly food distributions through the Salvation Army while about 300 receive hot lunches served through the Wellsburg service center’s weekly feeding program.

“It’s going to affect us tremendously,” said Marilyn Charnie, president of the board of directors for the Community Bread Basket in Weirton, who explained the organization expects to see requests for food assistance increase even more than they already have as a result of the cuts in benefits. “Our numbers have gone up in the last year by 10 to 20 a month.”

Charnie noted the Community Bread Basket regularly serves more than 200 area families, with each family receiving food once per month.

Distributions are scheduled for each Friday, and Charnie said they typically have representatives of 40 families per distribution. This week, she said, there were 67.

“The last four people they served, they had to be told they didn’t have any meat,” she said, noting that will be a major focus going forward, in asking for contributions. “We’ll take anything; hot dogs, anything.”

The Bread Basket previously received an annual $50,000 grant from the state, but Charnie noted that program was closed out under the current gubernatorial administration. She has reached out to officials in Charleston after hearing about plans by Morrisey to expedite emergency assistance funding for food banks in the state. In the meantime, she said, staff and volunteers are doing everything they can to reach out to the community with the hope of extra support through monetary and food donations in order to continue to serve those in need.

“It hurts. It really hurts,” she said.

The concerns are the same for communities in Ohio.

“Everything that happens in our communities impacts our community and our guests and our clients in some way, shape or form,” said the Rev. Kimberly Arbaugh, executive director of Urban Mission Ministries in Steubenville. “Food is one of our main priorities, and we’re just going to continue to work with our partnering agencies in the Mid-Ohio Food Bank to be able to provide the best services that we can in the current situation, the current climate that we’re living in now.”

Cynthia Lytle, director of community engagement and strategic partnerships at the Urban Mission, said they currently serve around 3,000 families each month in their six-county service territory–Jefferson, Harrison, Carroll and Belmont counties in Ohio, and Brooke and Hancock counties in West Virginia.

“But due to cuts from the Mid-Ohio food collective, we’ve had to switch our families from shopping once a week to every other week,” Lytle said. “So those families will still be served, but they’ll be served twice a month instead of four times out of the month.”

Lytle said Urban Mission has strong partnerships with its retail partners–Kroger, Riesbeck’s and Wal-Mart–that “fill the gaps for us, so we haven’t quite felt the impact yet in terms of numbers increasing, but we’re anticipating that, while also cutting back to make sure that we can serve those (higher) numbers, that we can serve the increase.”

“It’s important to understand the importance of partnerships right now, but also make sure the community sees it as a community issue and not just (as) an issue for the Urban Mission or whatever other agencies address hunger issues in the area,” Lytle said. “It’s about getting everybody in the community to understand their role in the part we can play and that’s going to make the biggest impact.

Penny Virtue, director of W.E.B.A. Food Pantry in Amsterdam, said they’re hoping the shutdown is resolved, “but we’re ready here.”

“We anticipate a lot more people coming through the doors, but well face it, we’ll do the best we can,” Virtue said, noting W.E.B.A. “does a produce pass out once a month as well as a once-monthly food pantry and emergency food boxes.”

Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling Executive Director Becky Shilling-Rodocker said her organization was preparing to help its usual families and more.

“We’re still open Monday through Sunday for people to get breakfast and lunch. We still have children’s dinner on Wednesdays. We expect to see a lot more people calling for help,” said Rodocker. “The problems coming down on local non-profits is not only the closure of the government, but also the SNAP benefits being put on hold. I don’t think that has ever happened before. There are a lot of people in dire need and we’re here to help our families.”

Rodocker also expressed concern about the local homeless population and their future. The city of Wheeling has decided to close its outdoor homeless encampment on Dec. 1. However, Rodocker said she is not sure there are enough indoor beds to house everyone who lives in the encampment.

“With the homeless, we don’t know what we’re going to do,” she said. “That is a huge decision to be made by people who work part-time for the city when we know the problems. Where do you put people? It was not perfect, but we could take care of people from there. We were taking care of them and they were not breaking the law. It’s just a mess.”

Rodocker said if the government shutdown continues all the nonprofits will be in for a “long, hard time” this winter.

“Usually by the end of the month we have served 310 to 312 (people). Now we might be seeing that by the middle of the month until benefits get back on track,” she said.

The Catholic Charities Neighborhood Center in Wheeling has already noticed an increase in people needing food and assistance, said Dianna Bell, assistant chief program officer. Last month, the food pantry served 350 people. And during its hot meal services, about 70 people are served.

Bell noted she has talked to people who are concerned about losing SNAP benefits.

“Our neighbors are saying they are worried about not getting their food stamps and not being able to feed their families,” she said. “There are several pantries in the area. … Everybody is experiencing a surge in our numbers. We’re trying to handle it the best we can. Catholic Charities has been doing it for many years and we will continue through the crisis we are going through.”

Bell said the center is already buying more food for its pantry to meet the increased need. And more food is being cooked and served for breakfast and dinner.

“We will keep doing what we have always done,” she said. “I hope it ends. It’s hard on low-income people and struggling families. … I hope it doesn’t come to fruition and people get their food stamps,” Bell said.

Claudia McKay, executive director of the Ohio County Family Resource Network, noted the federal government has the money available, it just has not appropriated it.

“Luckily, Ohio County has very robust food security programs,” she said. “Our Blessing Boxes are where our organization will see the most increase. They are storage sheds with non-perishable foods,” she said. “We’re preparing by buying more canned foods, canned meats, rice, beans, pasta – the staples.”

She noted the blessing boxes are typically used by people at the end of each month because they have usually used up their benefits by then.

She said those who already have SNAP benefits will be funded through the end of October; however, people who have applied for it after Oct. 16 will not be getting any October benefits.

“We are receiving more calls. People are calling with questions. Because we have a food security team in Ohio County we’re already in contact with each other,” she said.

McKay said part of the problem is that they do not know exactly how big of an impact the loss of SNAP will have on the community. Even local stores that accept SNAP will be impacted.

“It’s just much more far-reaching than just, ‘oh no, they won’t get as much food,'” she said. “This is a real problem and a real scenario with real stress.”

McKay said more than half of people on SNAP are families with children. A large percentage is seniors and a third of those who receive SNAP also work.

“There are lots of reasons people get SNAP benefits. We don’t want people to go hungry so we work as a team to meet the needs as best as possible,” Raymer said.

The Ohio County FRN updates a hot meal and food resource calendar monthly; it can be found at https://ocfrn.com/economic-%26-food-security.

The Rev. Bill Wendell, director of the House of the Carpenter in Wheeling, said his organization is also preparing for an influx of additional people needing food. He said the House’s food pantry feeds about 530 people each month. He said they are anticipating that at least another 100 people per month will need help when SNAP benefits run out at the end of this month.

“We’re not going to stop our mission. We’re going to feed people who are hungry,” he said.

The House of the Carpenter helps people who live in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The House buys food from the Mountaineer Food Bank and from some local stores such as Sam’s Club and Kroger. It also receives donations from individuals and churches like Newbridge. Sometimes it receives large shipments of fruits and vegetables from First Fruits Farm.

He noted people who use the pantry are often those with lower-wage jobs and those who receive SNAP but whose jobs are also low-paying.

“We have a few grants that are food-specific. We hope and are praying that the amount will cover it,” he said.

Wendell noted the House started to see an increase in clients after the major flood occurred in the Triadelphia area and Wheeling this past summer.

“Everyone is welcome, especially if you are hungry,” he added.

Kimberli Green, executive director of the Marshall County FRN, said her organization has already talked to people who are concerned about the future of the SNAP benefits. She said the FRN provides an updated list of pantries on its website, https://marshallcountyfrn.com/resources/. But it and sponsors stock 11 blessing boxes located across the county three times a month. She said the FRN will continue to monitor whether those boxes need additional food as time goes on.

“We have spoken with individuals who are concerned about what that will look like for them,” she said of the SNAP. “We’ve been seeing an increase in the last few months of people needing help with utilities and access to food.”

She said people can also call the Marshall County FRN at 304-845-3300 if they cannot access the website.

St. Clairsville Food Pantry Director Kathi Vaughn expressed frustration with the situation and federal government leaders.

“Get your act together people and stop using our most vulnerable population in your negotiations. It’s just silly,” Vaughn said. “But we’re very much aware that our numbers are up. We’re going to do the best we can, we’re continuing to get food together while planning for more people.”

Vaughn added that she usually serves roughly 50 residents but has already seen an increase serving close to 70 in the past week.

“We’re a choice pantry. So when people come in they get to choose what they want. But if the numbers continue to climb we’re going to do a pre-packed box because serving that many people in three hours gets very problematic,” Vaughn said.

The pantry is only open on Wednesdays from noon until 3 p.m. Vaughn likened the uptick to what happened in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic when residents panic bought an excessive amount of toilet paper.

In addition to the pantry, Vaughn also keeps the Blessing Box next to the city building on Market Street as full as she possibly can.

In addition to Vaughn, the Rotary Club of St. Clairsville, and city residents supply items to the Blessing Box regularly.

“We’re doing the best we can, and people are very generous here in town about putting things in,” Vaughn said. “We do anticipate that it’s going to see a great increase in usage.”

She added that the hardest part about the Blessing Box is with the weather change she has to be careful what gets added to the box.

Vaughn said that once temperatures get into the 30s at night, some items tend to freeze.

She noted the pantry welcomes donations.

Staff Writers Gage Vota, Warren Scott and Craig Howell contributed to this report.