Food shelves at the Mountaineer Food Bank in Gassaway, West Virginia, during a tour for state legislators on June 22, 2025. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
West Virginia’s food banks received skyrocketing reduced federal funding this year because of a Republican-backed budget bill signed six months before the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were delayed the current need for free food gifts.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey recently made a stop more than $8 million to the state’s food banks after thousands of SNAP users in West Virginia have not received their benefits At the beginning of November due to the federal government shutdown. He plans to provide an additional $2.5 million in state funding this week as the state works under guidance to provide a reduced SNAP benefit from the Trump administration.
They’re meeting the need, Morrisey said, and food banks have thanked him for the money.
Earlier this year, Republican Gov first budget proposal did not include a line-item request to fund food banks at the same level as former Gov. Jim Justice. The Republican-led Legislature also failed to augment the fund, and now there are calls for it to return next year.
In 2023, Justice started the Posey Perry Emergency Food Fund, a $10 million reserve account to address food insecurity in West Virginia. The fund would be split between the state’s largest food banks, Mountaineer Food Bank and Facing Hunger Foodbank, as well as food pantries could apply for emergency aid to buy food.
Kellie Gunnoe, director of Raleigh County United for Prevention, said the funding helped fund her organization’s food distribution, which serves 150 households each month.
Now it relies on donations from the community and competes with other nonprofits for grants to continue providing food boxes to families.
“We have to put it together,” she said. “It’s more difficult because foundations want to give something to everyone, so the amounts are much smaller.”
Morrisey’s press secretary, Drew Galang, responded to a question about why the governor didn’t request money for it Posey Perry Fund with: “Governor Morrisey has worked continually to ensure that no West Virginian goes hungry. The fastest and most efficient way to accomplish this mission has been through the use of emergency funds. As of Thursday, more than $11 million has been released to food banks across the state. If the Schumer shutdown continues, he will not hesitate to engage the Legislature.”
Facing Hunger Food Bank Executive Director Cyndi Kirkhart said she has been advocating for years to create a line item in the budget for food banks because West Virginia has some of the highest hunger rates in the country. Justice was excited to support the cause, she said, and he came up with the name for the fund.
“I think one of the challenges this year has been that we haven’t had a relationship with Governor Morrisey and his administration either. And I think that right now, in real time, the governor and his administration are really recognizing the importance of supporting the food banks and pantries,” she said.
Kirkhart emphasized that although the current challenges are increasing, they are not fresh. One in six people in the state face hunger.
“In the absence of this funding, it is clearly needed,” she said. “There are hungry people every day of the year. If it’s not the lack of SNAP benefits, it’s inflation, because those SNAP benefits will never be enough to meet a family’s total needs,” she said.
Caitlin Cook, Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for The Mountaineer Food Bank noted that in addition to failing funding at the state level, it has also lost federal funding.
“The additional support at both the state and federal level has decreased, but prices at the grocery store continued to increase, utility bills continued to increase. All of these things put extreme pressure on the nonprofit grocery network,” Cook said.
“Unfortunately, food insecurity has increased,” she said.
Lawmakers are considering reinstating the Posey Perry Emergency Food Fund
The budget The invoice The fund approved in 2023 notably included $10 million for the Posey Perry Fund. The following year, state lawmakers donated $10 million to the fund in a grant while a special session. Additionally, additional government funding was made available for nutrition programs.
Lawmakers could have added the Posey-Perry fund this year, but that wasn’t a major discussion point when they were working on it a tight budget. The legislation provided that remaining funds in the Governor’s Office budget could be directed to the Posey-Perry Fund.
Your final budget The invoice That included $1 million for the Community Food Program, which supports food banks, and $426,000 for food banks through the state Department of Agriculture.
Senate President Randy Smith and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw did not respond when asked whether either chamber had discussed including Posey-Perry funding in their respective budget bills.
Del. Rep. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, said he plans to ask his Republican colleagues to restore funding for the Posey Perry Emergency Food Relief Fund in the upcoming legislative session.
“While these grants do not address the current food needs we face, they underscore the need to ensure the Posey-Perry Fund is restored for the next fiscal year,” he said Wednesday.
Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, noted that the fund was created through bipartisan efforts.
“…It is a shame that this administration has not recognized the need to move forward with this. West Virginia’s hunger insecurity problems are not the result of this federal shutdown, nor will they end once they are resolved,” Young said. “I encourage the Morrisey administration and the Legislature to prioritize feeding our most vulnerable and adopt the systemic policy changes we propose that will reduce the need for these supplements in the first place.”
Gunnoe hoped lawmakers would restore funding to $10 million a year, saying, “This money really goes to families. There’s a lot of emphasis on education and educational choice, and we’re so far behind on nutrition.”
“They can’t absorb any of this education if they’re hungry,” she added.
Cook reiterated the need for the Posey Perry Fund. “I think both COVID and [the government shutdown] “We really put a spotlight on not only the high levels of food insecurity in the state, but also the infrastructure that exists in the state between the two food banks and their member organizations, and the need for funding and state involvement to support this nonprofit food network,” she said, adding that they have been in constant communication with Morrisey about current needs.
Morrisey last week some things accelerated the legislator‘ recent funding for food banks to support during delayed SNAP benefits. He also used $100,000 appropriated by the Legislature the previous year, according to the governor’s office. The rest of the food bank’s money comes from the governor’s emergency funds.
He has pledged about $14 million to food banks as West Virginia residents await reduced benefits at an unknown date.
“If I determine that we need more resources after the $14 million, I will call the Legislature back into session and make sure West Virginians don’t go hungry — period,” Morrisey said at a news conference Wednesday.
Democrats in the House of Representatives called urged Morrisey to give more money — pointing to $500 million in the governor’s emergency fund — to food banks and directly fund SNAP, as other states have done.
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- 11:37 amThis story has been updated to say that funding the Posey Perry line item was not a major point of discussion among state lawmakers while they were operating on a shoestring budget.
