BLUEFIELD — On the third day after food stamps ran out, Ron Ciccolini sat in the basement of a former Catholic school in Bluefield, calculating the food distribution numbers.
For nearly 30 years, Ciccolini has been the volunteer director of the Sacred Heart Food Pantry, which hands out five bags of groceries to patrons every Wednesday.
In September, the pantry served 428 people, but that number jumped to 658 in October after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would be delaying food stamp money the following month.
On Oct. 29, Ciccolini said he saw firsthand how desperate people had become. A man rode his electric wheelchair to the pantry from a public housing complex almost a half a mile away to ask for food.
“And the man said, I have $4 left for the month for food,” Ciccolini said. “We gave him five bags of food, which if you stretch it, could last a week, week and a half. And then what is he going to do afterwards?”
For around 270,000 West Virginians, food stamps, officially called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits, are vital to keeping refrigerators stocked and stomachs full. But on the first of November, when the money should have been uploaded to their electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards, nothing came.
Less than two hours after Gov. Patrick Morrisey said benefits should be on EBT cards within a week, President Donald Trump announced on social media Tuesday that he would not release money for food stamps until the shutdown was over. His press secretary walked his statement back later that afternoon, saying payments would be decreased and delayed.
In the days following the announcement of the delay in payment, the state government and volunteers have scrambled to fill the gap. Facing Hunger Foodbank distributed 75 tons of food across the 12 counties during the first weekend in November, more than double what it distributes in a typical weekend. Mountaineer Foodbank, serving the remainder of the counties in the state, distributed 46 tons, more than triple its typical distribution.
So far, Morrisey has pledged up to $14.1 million to the state’s two food banks, which help to supply local food pantries. $8.6 million has already been spent.
It takes up to $50 million a month to fund the food stamp program in West Virginia.
Everyday West Virginians like Sean Carlton, a small farmer in Wood County, have tried to step into the gap.
Over the summer, Carlton said he had served dozens of families in need through a pantry he set up that relies on his own farm’s revenue, local donations and labor. Since Nov. 1, that demand has shot up to 160 people.
“We’re able to feed everybody that we can, but there is an end to that,” he said. “We don’t believe it’s fair that we subsidize the government’s failures.”
While Morrisey hasn’t publicly ruled it out, he has yet to tap the $1.4 billion Rainy Day Fund, or the $460 million sitting in another fund set aside to cover tax cuts.
On Nov. 2, the day after food stamp money was supposed to be distributed, members of the West Virginia Legislature gathered at the Pipestem Resort State Park in Summers County for interim meetings.
The schedules at out-of-town interim sessions are typically light on meetings. Between boxed lunches and sit-down dinners, legislators attend tours of businesses and government facilities and have a little bit of time built in for a round of golf or a hike.
From Nov. 2-4, food stamps did not appear on any interim agenda.
Outside a ballroom at the resort, Del. Vernon Criss, R-Wood, sat in a chair reading his phone. As the chair of the House Finance Committee, Criss is one of the people responsible for creating the state’s budget.
Criss said staff at the Legislature is looking into the problem with food stamps, but it’s mainly up to the governor to decide how to handle the crisis.
“Historically West Virginia, since we’re a part-time legislature, tries to give the administration the benefit of the doubt on using its discretionary (funds) to match programs that it needs to be able to match,” Criss said.
Criss said he doesn’t believe there’s much support for the Legislature to come in for a special session to address the food stamp issue.
Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, the leader of the House Democrats, said more needs to be done.
“Call us in, get it over with, and let’s go feed our people,” Hornbuckle said.
Getting food to West Virginians
While Maryland and Virginia have been able to use state funds to load EBT cards for their residents, Morrisey said that’s not an option in West Virginia because the state uses a different vendor.
When asked for more details at a press conference on Friday, Morrisey said, “Obviously, there are different vendors that are in place, and some have managed to figure it out, and some have not.”
Instead, the National Guard has been deployed to assist food banks in getting resources to local pantries to meet the demand.
But it’s been difficult for some people to access those resources. Traci Hicks, a gas station manager in Marion County who relies on food stamps, said she has only been able to get to one distribution site.
“Most of the food bank times are while I’m at work,” she said.
And Audra Brooks, a 57-year-old legally blind woman in Raleigh County, said her children have been able to help her out since food stamps ran dry. But she’s concerned for those who don’t have family to rely on.
Back in Charleston, National Guard soldiers flanked Gov. Morrisey as he listed off everything the state was doing.
He said the state is spending millions of dollars and expects to spend more in the coming days. When the money available is gone, Morrisey said he’ll ask lawmakers for more so that people won’t go hungry.
“The state is stepping in to solve a Washington dysfunction,” he said.
In Beckley, April Sauls, a restaurant owner, worked with volunteers on Sunday to prepare boxes of food to be delivered to peoples’ homes.
“I was one of the kids who grew up in poverty and our family needed help,” Sauls said. “I don’t know what we would have done — things were already tight. I can’t imagine these families, these parents not knowing where their next meal is coming from for their child.”
Those needing food assistance can contact WV 211 to find their nearest food pantry. Those wishing to make a donation to a foodbank can do so at facinghunger.org or mountaineerfoodbank.org.
This story was fueled by a tip we received as partners with ProPublica through its Local Reporting Network. Got a tip to share? You can reach us at tips@mountainstatespotlight.org.
Duncan Slade contributed reporting for this story.