State distributing millions to food pantries in West Virginia starting Thursday

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) – West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Wednesday that the state has identified an additional $13 million to help West Virginia food pantries.

Gov. Morrisey announced Tuesday that the state would match donations to food banks to prepare for the expected increase in assistance needs in November from delays in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In a social media post on Wednesday, Gov. Morrisey said the state is prepared to give up to $13 million.

“This is in addition to the previously announced $1.1 million in expected funding to food banks. That’s over $14 million in total to date,” a fact sheet posted by Morrisey said.

According to the sheet, the state is frontloading $5 million of that money, and it will be distributed to food banks in the state starting on Thursday. The money will go directly to local food banks so those organizations can buy food from grocery stores in their local communities to offset the decline in grocery purchases without SNAP.

“We’ve identified this as the best plan at this time because it provides immediate emergency food assistance to those most in need while Congress deals with the shutdown,” Morrisey’s post said.

Morrisey said the state is also mobilizing the West Virginia National Guard to help manage the program.

Although the state will start by distributing $5 million of the total funding, the post said that West Virginia does plan on using all of the money if the shutdown continues. With contributions from the public, Morrisey’s office hopes that the state will have $20-25 million to continue food assistance during the shutdown.