Feeding the Valley fights to meet community need as supply dwindles during shutdown

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — The government shutdown is taking a toll on a local food pantry fighting to help families in the Chattahoochee Valley.  

Feeding the Valley Food Bank is seeing 15 to 20% more community members in need of help since the shutdown began, according to the pantry’s president and CEO Frank Sheppard.

At the same time, the food pantry has lost access to government resources which Sheppard said accounted for just over 50% of its supply.

“The numbers are up to 125 [thousand people in need of help] and potentially could increase as more benefits that are typically available to individuals start to dry up,” Sheppard said.

If the shutdown continues, a potential loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on Nov. 1 could hurt local families even more.

“SNAP provides about nine times the amount of food on a regular basis in the community than the food bank network does,” Sheppard explained.

According to the Georgia Department of Human Services, nearly 1.4 million low-income Georgians receive SNAP benefits which help them afford groceries.

Losing those benefits means the demand for food pantry assistance will grow, even as Feeding the Valley faces dwindling supply.  

 As of Oct. 21, Sheppard said the shelves are at just 35% of their typical capacity. Even though the food bank plans to continue providing resources, limited supply will impact how much it is able to give on a day-to-day basis.

According to Sheppard, the best way to help is by donating to Feeding the Valley’s Community Hunger Relief Fund.

Created in July 2025 as the food bank anticipated the ramifications of a potential shutdown, the fund allows Feeding the Valley to purchase resources at roughly 10% of their retail price.

“When we purchase food, we purchase a very high volume – 75 tractor-trailer loads at a time or more at a time – that drives the price down,” Sheppard said. He added, “The example I give is, you can give me a dollar can of corn, or you can give me a one-dollar bill and I can buy 10 cans of corn.”

Feeding the Valley hopes to raise $500,000 for the fund by the end of the year. So far, it has raised only a fraction of that amount.

You can donate to the Community Hunger Relief Fund on the Feeding the Valley website, on its crisis page. Feeding the Valley is also accepting food donations.