Local Food Giveaway Closes Early Due To Lack Of Food

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

A recent free food bank giveaway held on Oct. 17 at Military Circle Mall ran out of food and shut its gates two hours early.

The event’s abrupt closure came on the heels of a May 2025 University of Virginia report that predicted Virginia would lose 32,000 jobs this year because of federal government cuts.

“Virginia’s labor market is contracting – employment is expected to decline throughout 2025, bucking the national trend,” the report noted. “The unemployment rate in Virginia will rise as job losses accumulate and will reach its highest rate since 2021.”

But the report did not predict drivers would line up in cars at Military Circle Mall on Oct. 17 starting at 5:30 a.m., waiting to load fresh produce, protein and even pantry staples during week three of the federal shutdown.

The event was scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 880 N. Military Hwy. The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore ‘Shutdown Relief Mobile Distribution’ event was sponsored by the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. Initially, organizers said they had enough food to feed 500 households.

Shortly before noon, organizers said the turnout was bigger than expected and they had to close the gates.

For many, this could be the first biweekly paycheck missed since the shutdown began. With Thanksgiving on the horizon, food pantries can’t fill the gap since they are already under strain.

Meanwhile, the food stamp program will run out of money in two weeks, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters at the White House on Oct. 16, according to CNN.

“So you’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” she said. The nation’s largest anti-hunger program, SNAP has a contingency fund of about $6 billion, but November benefits are expected to total around $8 billion. The USDA’s shutdown plan noted multi-year contingency funding is available to fund benefits in the event of a lapse.

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Asked whether the USDA intends to make at least a partial benefit payment next month, a senior agency official pointed to Rollins’ comments that the program’s funding will be depleted in two weeks, according to CNN.

Also, changed eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is causing one local food bank to prepare to serve those who might lose benefits. The program serves about 40 million nationwide. Nearly 1 in 8 people receive the benefit each month. The money comes on prepaid cards.

New SNAP requirements say recipients must work at least 80 hours per month to maintain eligibility. Starting Nov. 1, major changes to SNAP will take effect – putting benefits at risk for millions of Americans. The new work requirements are occurring at a time when the overall jobless rate hovers near 4 percent in Virginia. Virginia also has the largest share of Black federal employees (10.7 percent). Maryland has the fourth-largest share (9.5 percent), after the District of Columbia and Georgia.

As of August 2025, the Black unemployment rate in the U.S. is 7.5 percent, which is more than double the rate for White workers at 3.7 percent.

“We are seeing record numbers as we speak,” Bob Latvis, president and CEO of the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank recently told WAVY-TV. “And without the SNAP benefits, those folks were going to turn to us for an additional resource for food. For every one meal that we can provide as the Foodbank, SNAP benefits provide nine.”

“We’re preparing by getting as much food as we possibly can,” Latvis said. “We purchase a great deal of food that we distribute through our network of partner agencies. We pulled that funding forward early in this year in preparation that we’re going to need it to help [with] the increase in the need, and we don’t see that reducing anytime soon.”

Latvis said year after year, in the two largest communities they serve, they’re seeing a 10,000 person increase in the food insecurity rate, but he now fears it’s only going to get worse.

“That line is only going to get longer – the need is going to increase,” Latvis said. “So we’re going to need to increase our funding, we’re going to increase our donations and really be able to serve those most in need in the community.”

In mid-May, the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service released a report that said Virginia will lose 32,000 jobs this year because of federal government cuts. Economic output will slow and the unemployment rate will rise to 3.9 percent this year and as high as 4.7 percent in 2026.

Cuts directly tied to government jobs and spending will have an inevitable spillover effect, the report said.

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“We have several hundred thousand people in Virginia who work for contractors with the federal government, so they are not federal employees,” said Eric Scorsone, executive director at the Cooper Center. “Those companies could potentially be laying people off. And ultimately that spills over to other industries like retail, restaurants.”

The report, one of several forecasting a slowing regional economy and job market, said policymakers need to address Virginia’s fallout from federal government actions now. One of the biggest risks, according to Scorsone, will be keeping those personally affected by cuts from leaving the region.