Mountaineer Food Bank Brings Hunger Awareness to State Capitol in March

Hundreds of lawmakers and citizens packed the West Virginia State Capitol rotunda in Charleston on March 10 for the 2026 Hunger Free Day, where Mountaineer Food Bank and a coalition of partner agencies made a direct case to legislators that hunger in the Mountain State is rising and demands a policy response.

Chad Morrison, CEO of Mountaineer Food Bank, used the gathering to push back against the notion that food insecurity is invisible. "We know that food insecurity is hard to see," Morrison said. "For policymakers, this may mean not recognizing struggling families despite the real and growing need in our communities. We encourage members of the Legislature to learn the scope of hunger in West Virginia and to support efforts that strengthen our food assistance network. With thoughtful policy and collaboration between government, nonprofits, and local communities, we can make meaningful progress toward ending hunger in our state."

Morrison was joined at the Capitol by leaders from partner agencies that do the day-to-day distribution work across the state, including Scott's Run Settlement House in Monongalia County, Always Blessed Connections in Braxton County, Clay Family Support Center in Clay County, Wellspring in Greenbrier County, and Step By Step, which operates across several West Virginia counties.

Donna Rollyson, Pantry Director at Always Blessed Connections, offered a ground-level view of what the numbers actually look like in practice. "On our busiest days, we see neighbors who worked a full shift and still don't have enough left for groceries," Rollyson said. "Hunger Free Day matters because it reminds people this is happening in every county, and it takes all of us working together to meet the need."

That point lands close to home for McDowell County. Mountaineer Food Bank's outreach calendar included a March 3 distribution at A New Beginning Church in War, one of dozens of county-level events the organization runs across the state each month. As the largest emergency food provider in West Virginia and a member of the Feeding America network, Mountaineer Food Bank distributes over 19 million meals annually across 48 of the state's 55 counties.

The organization has also been building out its capacity in recent months. A $1.5 million grant from Aetna Better Health of West Virginia is funding a new production kitchen, and the Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation contributed $50,000 to the fight against hunger statewide.

Hunger Free Day brought that institutional momentum directly into the legislative chamber, with the goal of ensuring that the scale of the problem registers with the lawmakers who control funding and policy levers. For communities like McDowell County, where economic hardship runs deep, the outcome of those conversations in Charleston carries real consequences.