BECKLEY — On Friday, Mountaineer Food Bank held its first ever award ceremony to honor its continuing partnership with state veteran outreach programs.
At Linda K. Epling Stadium, hundreds of veterans waited in their cars as the volunteers from the Beckley Veterans Affairs office and Disabled American Veterans handed out food, hot drinks and holiday spirit. Part of the Veterans Table program — which serves 500 to 600 veterans each month in Raleigh County — Friday’s food drive carried added significance. Mountaineer Food Bank’s CEO visited to present the VA and DAV with a commemorative plaque honoring their support and the work of their volunteers.
The ceremony also marked the annual National Veterans and Military Families Month, which highlights the sacrifices of military families and the impact of programs like Veterans Table across southern West Virginia.
“This has become one of the pillar programs of the food bank because we feel so strongly that our veteran population in West Virginia has done so much for us,” Mountaineer Food Bank CEO Chad Morrison said. “Anything that we can do to give back to them means so much for our organization and supporters.” Mountaineer Food Bank is a statewide distribution and logistical hub for food pantries throughout the state.
“We’re able to support over 1,400 veterans across the state every single month through the Veterans Table program,” Morrison said.
“For too many of our veterans, the battle doesn’t end when they return home,” DAV State Adjutant Adam Greathouse said. “This critical partnership is rooted in a shared mission to serve those who have served us and to remove any and all barriers and stigma attached to food insecurity.”
Created in 2017, Veterans Table is an integral part of a network that sends food boxes to about 1,400 veterans each month across the state and continues to absorb the ripple effects of the recent federal government shutdown even as demand for emergency meals stays high.
State support typically flows first through West Virginia’s two largest food banks — Mountaineer Food Bank and Facing Hunger Food Bank — and local food pantries then apply for a share of those dollars to purchase food for their communities.
As the government reopens, initiatives Veterans Table continue to support the nutritional requirements of veterans, especially those living on a fixed income.
“Oh, it’s a big help,” U.S. Navy veteran John Toth said. “I’ve been coming here just about since they started it and it’s basically a food drop with the Army bringing in the trucks, the crews setting up the lanes and the volunteers starting to hand out food around 10 a.m.”
Toft added, “We normally do three lines, but today I see four going across.”
Friday’s plaque ceremony marked the start of a more formal way to thank partners who keep the lines moving, according to Chief Development Officer Alicia Bossi.
Mountaineer Food Bank has maintained an active partnership with the VA and DAV for many years and expects that partnership to grow across West Virginia with Bossi adding that the food bank hopes to make the event annual as it builds a broader recognition program for donors and volunteers.
“I love our mission and that we get to give back to folks across West Virginia,” Bossi said. “Our volunteers are the heart of what we do and we want people to call, follow us online or visit our website if they want to be part of it.”
The program expanded through a formal partnership with the Beckley VA and DAV in 2021 and now relies on volunteers who spend eight to 10 hours a day in vans delivering food to veterans in 11 counties within the VA’s service area.
“When the shutdown hit, we had to run seven days a week across all 48 counties we serve,” Morrison said. “You had [nearly 200] food banks all doing the same thing, trying to get as much food as they can at the same time in a supply chain not made for that level of strain.”
The Beckley ceremony highlighted how a statewide hunger network depends on national institutions, local volunteers and small, steady acts of service to reach veterans who live on fixed incomes or who may not drive and who may still feel the shock of disrupted federal benefits long after headlines move on.
“We see you,” Morrison said of those veterans and families still struggling after the shutdown. “We’re not going anywhere.”
