ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke City’s St. Francis House Food Pantry faced completely empty shelves in May. Now in June, the pantry is facing an even tighter situation heading into summer — and the people who run it say the situation is only getting harder.
St. Francis House received a new USDA food shipment for June, but the entire delivery is expected to last through the end of the month, and they received even less food than they had in May. In May, the pantry ran out of food in just two weeks.
“There’s not enough food to go that far, so it’s being really thoughtful and looking at the whole month ahead, so we don’t get to the end of the month and have no food to give to anyone,” said Lucy Enge, development officer for Commonwealth Catholic Charities Southwest Virginia.
The June delivery was even smaller than May’s. Enge said the shortfall is significant and is causing them to hand out less food.
“We were really ready for our delivery, and it was 300 pounds less for June compared to May. If you compare June’s new numbers back to January’s numbers, we’re now down 64%,” she said.
Federal funding cuts drive the shortage
The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributes food to local pantries like St. Francis House through the Emergency Food Assistance Program. In recent years, the USDA paused or reduced hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for that program — directly impacting pantries across Southwest Virginia.
Feeding Southwest Virginia says the shortage is being felt regionally. It is increasing Feeding Southwest Virginia’s own purchasing to help fill the gap, but supplies are still falling short of previous levels.
“We have a strong organizational capacity to continue to meet fallouts from the USDA and other issues we can’t control, but we can be flexible for,” said Rachel Garnett, Director of Marketing and Communications for Feeding Southwest Virginia.
Summer compounds the crisis
The shortage comes at a bad time. Summer is one of the busiest seasons for food pantries, as children who typically receive free or reduced-price lunches during the school year lose access to those daily meals. At the same time, cuts to SNAP and other USDA programs are leaving more families with fewer options.
Rising energy and transportation costs are adding another layer of pressure on the families who depend on pantries like St. Francis House.
“We’re looking at rising energy costs across the board. So, it’s costing our neighbors more to even come here to get food, aside from their day-to-day life of getting to work, of paying utilities,” Enge said. “And schools are out. So, yes, there are some feeding programs, but the kids don’t have a meal — two meals every day through free and reduced lunches. And that’s a real impact on children and families.”
How to help
Feeding Southwest Virginia and St. Francis House are both seeking community support.
To support St. Francis House, the pantry is specifically seeking shelf-stable items, including peanut butter, canned meat and canned fruit.
Donations can be dropped off at St. Francis House at 824 Campbell Ave. SW in Roanoke City between 9 a.m. and noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
To help support Feeding Southwest Virginia, you can donate here or drop off food donations at its location at 1025 Electric Rd Salem, VA 24153. You can also look for other ways to help here.
If you, your family, or someone you know is facing food insecurity, you can find resources through Feeding Southwest Virginia to help here.