Hunger Action Month aims to raise awareness about food insecurity and encourage volunteer efforts and donations.
Mountaineer Food Bank Donor Relations Officer Servando Arredondo attended the Sept. 18 Upshur County Commission meeting to talk about Mountaineer Food Bank’s efforts to feed the hungry.
“This month is Hunger Action month, so it’s a nationwide initiative with Feeding America,” Arredondo said. “All 200 food banks around the country right now are going around to city councils, county commissions, different businesses, promoting Hunger Action Month and the work we’re doing around the country.”
In West Virginia, the Mountaineer Food Bank primarily serves 48 of the state’s 55 counties.
“I think a really good example and a great opportunity for folks to get a better idea of what the need is in this community is visiting the folks on Brushy Fork, called Feed My Sheep; they’re one of our partner agencies, and they do a phenomenal job of getting resources from all around the state,” Arredondo said. “I’ve called them and said, ‘Hey, we have an agency that has stuff in Morgantown if you can pick it up, it’s all yours,’ and they’re on the road in their van and trailer, picking stuff up, every time.”
The Mountaineer Food Bank also works with the Upshur County Parish House to distribute food.
“The Parish House is another partner here, and then we do our mobile pantries, I believe we do those distributions at the Way of Holiness,” Arredondo said. “We have 250 of those around the state a year, but Feed My Sheep always impresses me with the amount of stuff they tend to have, and they have a little bit of everything for everybody.”
The Mountaineer Food Bank has several locations, and its warehouse in Putnam County is in the middle of an expansion.
“We have a warehouse that we’re downsizing right now because we’re upsizing in other areas, but we have a warehouse in Weston right now, we have the primary warehouse in Gassaway, and then we have a packing facility in Sutton,” Arredondo said. “Down in Putnam County, we’re in the process of expanding our main warehouse, so we’re going from about 20,000 square feet up to about 80,000 square feet, so it’s quite an expansion project.”
While most of their funding used to come from state and federal sources, that has changed.
“The majority of our funding used to come from state and federal funding, and we still get state and federal funding, it’s not near what it was,” Arredondo said. “Now it’s primarily through individual donations, corporations, businesses, foundations, and a whole lot of hitting the road, fundraising, knocking on doors kind of thing. That’s my primary role, going out and asking folks for those donations.”
The Proclamation:
WHEREAS, hunger and poverty are issues of vital concern in West Virginia, where 277,720 people face hunger and one in every five children do not know where their next meal will come from; and
WHEREAS, everyone needs nutritious food to thrive, and in every community in America, people are working hard to provide for themselves and their families — yet in 2023, 47 million people — 1 in 7 — including more than 13.8 million children — 1 in 5 — faced food insecurity in the U.S. That includes more than 3,700 people in Upshur County, with 20% of children who call Upshur County home food insecure; and
WHEREAS, Upshur County is committed to taking steps to combat hunger in every part of our community and to provide additional resources that those in Upshur County need; and
WHEREAS, Upshur County is committed to working with Mountaineer Food Bank, a member of the Feeding America® nationwide network of food banks, in educating people about the role and importance of food banks in addressing hunger and raising awareness of the need to devote more resources and attention to hunger issues; and
WHEREAS, many individuals in Upshur County rely on food provided by the members of Mountaineer Food Bank and its community partners annually; and
WHEREAS, in 2023, the members of Mountaineer Food Bank distributed 508,086 pounds of food to households in Upshur County through its network of food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community organizations; and
WHEREAS, the month of September has been designated “Hunger Action Month” in order to bring attention to food insecurity in our communities and to enlist the public in the movement to end hunger by taking action — including volunteer shifts, social media shares, and donations — to ensure every community, and everybody in it, has the food they need to thrive.
WHEREAS, food banks across the country, including Mountaineer Food Bank, will host numerous events throughout the month of September to bring awareness and help end hunger in their local community;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Upshur County Commission does hereby recognize September 2025 as HUNGER ACTION MONTH in our county of West Virginia, and we call this observance to the attention of our citizens.
