Donna Baxter, 68, had a big pot of homemade vegetable soup cooking on her stove Thursday afternoon.

She already called two of her neighbors to share it with them.

“If I have it, we share it,” Baxter said.

And that’s not all Baxter is sharing.

This week, she joined the growing number of people stepping up to help since the announcement that government food assistance was cut at the start of the month. She set up a free food pantry on her porch along East Seventh Avenue in Tarentum to support people who might feel overwhelmed without those benefits.

The help is needed.

Food banks and pantries across the region are reporting soaring demand since the federal government shutdown stopped payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Several federal judges have ruled since then that payments to SNAP have to resume, but rulings working their way through courts vary in the amount of funding they demand.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week announced it would fund only about 50% of SNAP payments until the shutdown ends. That figure was revised Thursday, with government officials now saying SNAP payments would be cut by 35%.

Food bank officials don’t foresee that cutting the demand.

Food banks feeling the pressure

Volunteers for Feeding the Flock gathered at the Harmar ministry Thursday and braced themselves for the additional of cars that would drive through the food distribution line.

According to Terry Ellis, 77, a volunteer and member of the Springdale Veterans Association from VFW Post 1437, around 300 cars show up to weekly food distributions. On Thursday morning, around 30 volunteers fielded around 450 cars.

Ellis credited the increase to SNAP cuts and the holiday season.

“All of it,” he said. “Even Greater Pittsburgh (Community Food Bank) is cut back, and that filters down the line.”

During a news conference Monday, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank CEO Lisa Scales said the news of the lapse in SNAP benefits caused a consistent surge in demand at the food bank’s on-site food pantry, direct distributions and throughout the food bank’s food pantry locations.

Demand has doubled at the food bank’s on-site pantry from about 150 people a day to 300 a day, she said.

Feeding the Flock is partnered with Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, meaning it gets regular shipments of food to distribute. The ministry provides dairy products, eggs, cheese, meats, canned goods, bread, fruit produce and other products. Sometimes the food bank is able to provide diapers and other baby supplies.

The ministry also receives donations from other local charities, fundraisers and Sam’s Club and Target donation programs.

The Springdale Veterans Association also donates money throughout the year to the ministry, Ellis said. His veterans group is stepping up, too. While their typical donation to Feeding the Flock is about $200, Ellis said Thursday’s donation was $1,000, an increase Ellis said was approved by the VFW because of recent demand at the pantry.

Distributions are hosted each Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. and the food bank is restocked each week. Registered participants are allowed to get food every two weeks, Ellis said.

Donna Barkley, 70, of Emlenton, has been volunteering with Feeding the Flock for about 16 years, and driving an hour and a half to the ministry’s Harmar location each Thursday for the past seven. She said Thursday’s turnout was more people than she’d seen in a while.

“This is even before the holidays have hit,” Barkley said. “So if it keeps up, we’re going to have more of a problem.”

Upcoming distributions

Other organizations have announced upcoming food distributions.

Lower Valley Community Food Bank will distribute food from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 20 from the rear entrance of the Springdale Borough Building on School Street. Folks who live in Springdale, Springdale Township, Cheswick, Harmar and the sections of Indiana Township and West Deer with a ZIP code of 15024 are eligible to pick up food.

The Allegheny Valley Association of Churches Food Bank in Harrison on Wednesday hosted its first food distribution session since SNAP cuts went into effect.

Volunteers usually serve about 100 families from 1:30 to 5 p.m. during a typical distribution.

The association’s Executive Director Karen Snair said the line for distribution Wednesday was three blocks long and stayed that long until the 5 p.m. cutoff time.

“It was incredible,” Snair said. “It was way more people than we normally see.”

The Allegheny Valley Association of Churches and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will also host a drive-thru food distribution from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in the parking lot of the former JC Penney store at the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer.

‘An unprecedented need’

Snair said the holiday season is always busier than regular months, but nothing like they saw on Wednesday.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Snair said about seeing how many people showed up for distribution. “I know for families trying to feed their kids, this is devastating to them. Families were struggling already, and this just makes it worse.”

The food bank provides people with shelf stable items along with fresh produce, refrigerated items and frozen foods. The bank is supplied by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, 412 Food Rescue and various community fundraisers, charities and food drives.

Snair said when it was announced SNAP was in jeopardy in October, the community wasted no time getting donations to the food bank.

“When this community hears people are in need of food, they really step up,” Snair said.

Snair said the food bank is “in it for the long haul,” and plans to do what it can to give people what they need.

“We’ve had this food bank since the 1970s,” she said. “We’ve done it through strikes at the steel mills and other emergencies. We’ll figure it out.”

Despite the increase in donations, Snair said there’s still a concern about supplies if the demand for food continues to increase.

“It’s an unprecedented need,” she said. “We’re going into the holidays. Typically, we see more people asking for help. With SNAP benefits cut, it’s a guessing game. There’s always a concern of whether we’ll be able to meet the need. I’m anticipating we will, but it’s a guessing game.”

Locals stepping up

Baxter isn’t the only person who felt called to give.

AJ Owen, a 36-year-old single father living in Whitehall opened a pantry in his front yard last week.

The pantry initially began as a lesson to teach his children about giving back to the community. It grew far beyond Owen’s expectations when a TikTok post he made about the pantry went viral and garnered 16 million views by Wednesday.

“The amount of donations we received, and the amount of people coming and coming and getting food is both so gratifying and so horrifying,” Owen told TribLive Wednesday. “So many people need help and I’m so happy to be a resource for them.”

Baxter also saw an immediate response from community members while getting her pantry together.

She and her husband, Steve, decided to take some extra money to purchase food for their small pantry. While shopping, Baxter told a stranger about her pantry and the person immediately handed over $20 to put toward the cause.

When her neighbor saw the table, a box of canned corn and canned vegetables were on her front porch within the hour.

“Kids are especially precious to me,” Baxter said. I am just fearful of how many are going without. They need food to be able to have energy. They need food to go to school and sit there and pay attention.”

When creating the pantry, Baxter tried to assemble a collection of food that could make a full meal. The table holds nonperishable foods and clothing.

“It’s always been a passion of mine to make sure that people are fed,” Baxter said. “I put a little blurb on Facebook, and we restocked our table this morning. And we’ve got bags more food over there and people coming with food.”

Baxter takes pride in making sure people are fed. She has volunteered for Meals on Wheels in the past, and always makes sure she cooks extra for her neighbors and friends.

Baxter said she tries not to monitor her pantry too much so people will feel more comfortable dropping by.

“It’s important to me that I do what I can. If I could put that soup out there,” she said, gesturing toward her stove, “I’d put that soup out there.”

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