Dunlow, W.Va. — Food Pantry Strained by Cuts, Rising Costs

Bill Likens stood at the front of a half-mile line of cars that began forming before sunrise outside the food pantry he runs in Dunlow, W.Va., and the question he faced was whether there would be enough food to reach the end of it, according to NBC News.

What happened at the Dunlow food pantry?

On Sept. 16, drivers lined up outside Cabwaylingo Presbyterian Chapel, some having traveled more than 30 miles on flood-prone roads through the Appalachian Mountains, NBC News reported. Temperatures climbed into the 80s, and families kept their engines off to conserve gasoline while they waited, according to the outlet. Likens, 51, the chapel's director of community outreach, counted cartons of eggs and sacks of potatoes being unloaded from a semitruck to calculate how much each waiting car could receive, NBC News reported.

"There's a decent chance we could run out," Likens said, according to NBC News.

Why are federal food shipments shrinking?

Food distribution programs that supply pantries like the one in Dunlow are receiving less food through federal channels after cuts made by the Trump administration, NBC News reported. Donna Paterino, another pantry operator cited by the outlet, said demand has surged over the past year even as the volume of food moving through federal programs has fallen, according to NBC News.

How are new food stamp rules changing demand?

NBC News reported that restrictions on food stamps contained in Republicans' "big, beautiful bill" have driven up the number of people seeking help at pantries. The outlet tied the increase in demand directly to the legislation without detailing every provision, leaving the law's full scope outside the reporting reviewed here.

Why are gas prices making the shortage worse?

Rising gas prices tied to the war with Iran have cut into the budgets of both households and food banks, NBC News reported. The outlet described the effect as two-sided: families burning more of their income just to reach distribution sites, and pantries facing higher costs to move donated food from suppliers to rural churches like Likens'.

What do the numbers show?

• Half a mile — the length of the line of cars that formed before sunrise at the Dunlow distribution on Sept. 16, according to NBC News.
• 30-plus miles — the distance some drivers traveled over flood-prone roads to reach the pantry, NBC News reported.
• 80s — the temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, that families endured with their engines off to save gasoline, according to the outlet.

What happens if the food runs out?

Likens, who told NBC News he grew up hungry in Dunlow, said avoiding that outcome for the families now lining up is the point of the work.

"I don't want them to sit in that line and not get anything," he said, according to NBC News. "But I don't have a lot of extra food these days."

NBC News did not report a timeline for when federal food volumes or gas prices might change, leaving pantry operators like Likens to keep recalculating, truck by truck, how far each shipment will stretch.