Editors’ note: This story was updated on Dec. 12 to correct details about the rollout of Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance benefits and add clarification about changes made at Unity4Kids and W&L’s Campus Kitchen during the government shutdown.
Local relief organizations across Rockbridge County said they are experiencing one of their busiest years as higher costs of living, reduced federal support and lingering uncertainty from the recent federal shutdown have pushed more families to seek assistance.
Although the shutdown has ended, leaders of food assistance programs said that its effects have added pressure to a community already struggling with inflation and resource gaps.
Washington and Lee’s Campus Kitchen, the Rockbridge Area Relief Association and Unity4Kids are all local relief programs that provide food and other basic necessities to those who need them. All three described 2025 as a year marked by heightened need. While these organizations were already seeing record numbers this year, the federal shutdown increased the community’s need for assistance.
Unity4Kids Director Tammy Reid said the organization had been “busier this year than in past years,” citing increases in the number of families and individuals needing food, rent assistance and basic necessities.
“People also just have general needs,” she said, adding that inflation and rising costs have been driving more single parents, families and elderly residents to seek help.
Campus Kitchen Coordinator Ryan Brink, ’18, said he saw the same trend. He said the year had already been difficult for many families who rely on benefits to stabilize their grocery budgets.
Lindsey Pérez, executive director of the Rockbridge Area Relief Association, said that the organization has seen consistently high demand for the past two years due to inflation and the end of pandemic-era support.
When the federal government shutdown began on Oct. 1, the pressure intensified quickly. Reid said the shutdown’s impact was “huge and catastrophic.”
Prior to the shutdown, Unity4Kids distributed an average of 90 food deliveries every other week. During the shutdown, they switched to delivering food on an as-needed basis. Unity4Kids completed 250 deliveries during the shutdown, Reid said.
Campus Kitchen began receiving more requests from families hoping to be added to pre-registration lists. Brink said the organization’s mobile food pantry drew “double the number of people showing up” after the shutdown started, including many who had never visited a food pantry before.
At RARA, Perez said, the shutdown added strain to a year that has already set record levels of demand. One November distribution day saw 88 people instead of the usual 60.
Virginia eventually issued benefits during the shutdown through the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance program, but they were rolled out in smaller weekly payments instead of one monthly sum, according to the Virginia Mercury. The lack of consistency contributed to widespread confusion, Brink said. He said that the uncertainty alone was enough to push people toward emergency food programs.
“When their SNAP benefits were delayed, and no one knew what was going on, you could tell there was a lot of anxiety around that,” he said.
Perez said that multiple new families now visit RARA every week, including people working what she described as “middle-class jobs” who still struggle to keep up with rising costs.
Although the shutdown has ended, the pressures it exposed remain. Reid said she expects the need for food relief services to stay high because federal benefits “do not change the basic needs someone has.” Rising living costs and rural access issues, such as families needing to drive 30 to 45 minutes to reach a grocery store, make the situation even more difficult, she said.
Each organization has adjusted in different ways to keep up with this year’s influx. Campus Kitchen raised its number of weekly frozen-meal distributions and increased the food included in children’s backpacks, said Brink.
Perez said RARA increased volunteer coverage and food orders to accommodate higher demand. She said they were “lucky” to have enough budget flexibility to do so. Still, Perez emphasized the limits charitable programs face. She said that nonprofits won’t be able to handle it if the government reduces its food assistance benefits.
“For every one meal provided by a food pantry, nine are provided by SNAP,” she said..
Even with the challenges, relief workers said one bright spot has been community support. Volunteers stepped up during the shutdown, and donations increased as the holidays approached.
However, Reid said the broader issue is not going away, and she hopes residents remember how close the need really is.
“These people are in our backyard,” she said. “They don’t just exist. They are here, and they need our help.”
