SNAP cuts: Henrico County food banks and pantries brace for a surging need

The Three Chopt Presbyterian Church Food Pantry in the Wedgewood section of Henrico County’s West End serves an average of 280 families a week during its Tuesday afternoon distribution of groceries.

This year, the numbers of people lining up to receive help have exceeded any other in the 10 years the church has been aiding people in need of groceries.

In 2024, the church gave food packages to a total of 46,000 households; that number this year already has reached 50,000. People line up in cars for a 5 p.m. distribution, right into vehicles’ trunks.

But now, Three Chopt Presbyterian Church Food Pantry staffer Paige Healy said that with the news that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP) benefits are to be canceled starting Nov. 1, if the federal government shutdown is not resolved by Oct. 28, she fears the need for food will become more intense.

“I think it’s awful,” Healy said. “We already have so many people in need of food that already get SNAP, so I can’t imagine what we are going to experience.”

Formerly known as food stamps, SNAP benefits help put healthy foods on the table for people struggling to afford groceries. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average SNAP household receives a monthly benefit of $332.

That's $177 per person based on the average SNAP household size of 1.9 people. Households with children received a larger average monthly benefit of $574, due to the larger average household size of 3.3 people.

While the food pantry does not ask about the recipients’ life details, Healy described the beneficiaries of the distribution of non-perishable goods along with protein and produce, as "working poor" earning a minimum wage, and elderly people on fixed budgets.

They are people who can’t make ends meet.

“We are anticipating an increased need, but there’s not really much we can do,” Healy said. “Hopefully we won’t have to stretch our supplies thin. But it may mean that we give out a smaller amount of food going to individual families.”

'More people will be put at risk for being food insecure'

According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, there are a total of 37,236 people in Henrico County who receive SNAP benefits.

There are other challenges that also are preventing some being from being able to meet the cost of groceries, too – such as the 3% jump this month in the Consumer Price Index, indicating increases in the cost of goods and groceries.

The Three Chopt Presbyterian Church Food Pantry is just one of the 31 partner food pantries in Henrico that are a part of Feed More’s distribution network, which collectively comprise less than 10% of the Central Virginia Food Bank’s 380 distribution partners throughout the region. (Those totals do not account for the impact made by Feed More’s Meals on Wheels program, which delivers food to elderly recipients).

Being in that partner network means the food pantries can receive goods and purchase items from Feed More’s distribution warehouse on Villa Park Drive in Henrico in bulk – and at prices that are dramatically lower than a typical retail supermarket.

In reaction to the news of the cuts to SNAP, Henrico County government officials sent out an email Oct. 22 advising SNAP recipients to visit a Feed More food pantry or visit 211virginia.org for assistance.

Feed More’s partner food pantries in Henrico, including the one at Three Chopt Presbyterian Church, have set open hours that vary by day, time and location. The Henrico Community Food Bank, which exclusively distributes food to those in need to their homes, does not have open hours for pick up. (HCFB is seeking donations to fill its empty shelves.)

“They're upset, they're sad. they're definitely feeling it. They're trying to make as many provisions as they can ahead of time because they're unsure of
what's going to happen.”

– Victoria Harris Thompson,
Commonwealth Catholic Charities program supervisor for community support services

The Virginia Department of Social Services has disbursed October SNAP benefits as scheduled and is still enrolling people in SNAP and other assistance programs. SNAP is entirely federally-funded and Virginia cannot supplement or replace those benefits during the lapse in congressional appropriations, according to the DSS website.

However, on Thursday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency to provide emergency hunger relief by expending emergency funds for Virginians in response to what his press release called “the Democrat Shutdown causing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to run out starting November 1, 2025.”

Feed More Chief Development Officer Aaron McClung estimated that the cost to keep SNAP recipients fed in Virginia will total $6.5 million. But he said the challenge with quantifying the number of people on SNAP is that it's a fluid program.

“It's not permanent. People come on and go off SNAP. It's not designed to be a permanent solution,” McClung said. “The challenge we have right now is a few weeks ago, if someone just got enrolled on SNAP, they're not receiving benefits. So, if you've lost a job or you've had an emergency medical event or whatever it is that's impacted your ability to earn income. Even if you now become enrolled in SNAP, those benefits are not being paid. So, the longer this shutdown happens the more people will be put at risk for being food insecure.”

This year, the number of people looking for help through Feed More’s programs and partners is up about 14%, while the organization has seen a decrease in supply of 5%.

“So those two things are going in the opposite directions,” McClung said. “That's why right now we're seeing more people come to our food pantry partners, but unfortunately, the amount of food we have to distribute is gone down. So that's why food drives that happen at the county level or in the neighborhood level are so important to what we do.”

The increased need also is reflected in the numbers of visitors to the Commonwealth Catholic Charities Dibert Food Pantry, located at its Rolling Hills Drive location in Henrico's West End.

Open most weekdays, except for Tuesdays, when the staff restocks, the CCC serves many single parents, seniors on a fixed income, refugees and immigrants as well as people who choose the pantry as it is located on GRTC's No. 79 bus line.

The number of households served per week has increased from 146 last year to 186 so far this year.

“Among the families who do receive SNAP, they're upset, they're sad, they're definitely feeling it,” said Commonwealth Catholic Charities Program Supervisor for Community Support Services Victoria Harris Thompson, who runs the Dibert Food Pantry. “They're trying to make as many provisions as they can ahead of time because they're unsure of what's going to happen.”

Need for assistance on the rise

Now three weeks into the government shutdown, with many people living paycheck to paycheck, and federal employees working without pay, Feed More officials are seeing food assistance needs increase. The organization is strategically targeting specific populations in need, like a recent food distribution event designed for Transportation Safety Administration workers at the Richmond International Airport.

Both Dibert Food Pantry and the Three Chopt Presbyterian Church Food Pantry are able to tap into The Emergency Food Assistance Program, a federal program that helps supplement the diets of people with low income by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost.

But, because of the anticipated need for food, both pantries (and other organizations in the county) also are seeking donations in the form of funds or food items to meet the needs of the increased recipients. 

The CCC food pantry, which relies on volunteer staff, receives the majority of its food – 600 to 700 pounds a month – from parishes, local churches and community members.

“What we're hearing from our agency partners is the stories of people that have not been before to a food pantry, which is always an indicator of new folks that are experiencing this for the first time,” McClung said.

Feed More currently is seeking cash and food donations, as well as volunteers to help in its prep kitchen and to distribute food through Meals on Wheels.

Putting a face to those who are in danger of losing their SNAP funds, the McShin Foundation, which assists people in recovery from addiction, is asking for donations of non-perishable food items, gift cards or tax-deductible donations for food purchases for participants.

The Trinity United Methodist Church, at 903 Forest Avenue in the Near West End, is holding a food drive for pantries.

Feed More’s Hunger helpline, through which the organization fields inquiries using a chatbot as well as online forms and phone calls, has seen an increase during the last few weeks.

“What we do is we take that information from those folks and put them in touch with the resources closest to them,” McClung said. “We've seen a definite increase there. The number of people that are looking for help is [something] that we've not seen since the pandemic.”

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.