As Snap Benefits Are Slashed, Renovated Sandhills Food Bank Braces For Surge In Need

By Jaymie Baxley

When nan Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina began renovating its Sandhills branch successful 2023, nan nonprofit did not expect nan project’s completion to coincide pinch the threat of a nationalist hunger crisis. 

The $1 cardinal overhaul of nan Moore County facility, which besides serves Lee, Richmond and Scotland counties, was primitively meant to reside an uptick successful nutrient insecurity crossed nan mostly agrarian region. 

“We were prepared for nan summation successful request for nutrient assistance owed to economical factors for illustration nan rising costs of surviving and nan truth that wages successful nan region are not keeping up pinch that cost,” said Jason Kanawati Stephany, vice president of communications and nationalist argumentation for Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. “We were not fresh for nan largest trim successful nan history of SNAP market support.”

Yet that is nan reality Food Bank officials faced arsenic they celebrated nan re-opening of nan branch — which boasts caller offices, an expanded storage freezer and different upgrades — pinch a ribbon cutting connected Monday.

Officials from nan Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina trim nan ribbon successful beforehand of nan bank’s recently renovated Sandhills branch successful Moore County. Credit: Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News

The arena happened conscionable hours aft nan Trump management announced that group participating successful nan Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would person only half their normal benefits amid nan ongoing national authorities shutdown.

About 40,000 residents dangle connected SNAP successful nan four-county area served by nan Sandhills branch. The slashing of their benefits, which were already delayed and whitethorn not beryllium issued for respective weeks still, intends much section families will request thief putting nutrient connected nan table, conscionable arsenic nan holidays arrive.

“We cognize that our organization needs us, and truthful we person to beryllium positioned to support nan activity that needs to beryllium done,” said Mariah Murrell, main organization effect serviceman for Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

The branch’s work, she added, “matters much than ever — not conscionable arsenic a response, but arsenic a lifeline.”

A well-timed facelift

While nan disruption successful SNAP will beryllium felt crossed nan Food Bank’s location web of six branches covering 34 counties, nan unit astatine nan Sandhills tract are astatine slightest amended equipped to grip a surge successful request than they were 2 years ago. 

Map showing nan counties covered by nan six branches of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

The renewal is nan first awesome update nan branch has received since 2003, erstwhile it was relocated from its erstwhile location successful adjacent Aberdeen to nan extremity of a gravel way disconnected Sandy Avenue successful Southern Pines. 

Now, a afloat paved roadworthy leads to a due parking batch successful beforehand of nan facility. Inside, nan outdated instrumentality and cramped cubicles that workers made do pinch for decades person been replaced pinch modern hardware and existent offices. 

“This is my first clip having an agency pinch a door,” said Jessica Ledbetter, a web engagement head who has been pinch nan branch since 2009. “I utilized to person to effort to find a backstage abstraction if I needed to return a telephone that needed to beryllium confidential.”

Jessica Ledbetter, web engagement head for Food Bank astatine Sandhills. Credit: Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News

The “most exciting” addition, Ledbetter said, is simply a larger convention room that tin big representatives from nan galore section organizations that assistance nan branch pinch nutrient distribution. 

“We had wanted much abstraction to induce our partner agencies for meetings and to person trainings,” she said. “Before, we had to either rent a abstraction aliases look for an outer abstraction to use.”

Another important upgrade tin beryllium recovered successful nan facility’s warehouse, wherever a walk-in cooler has been expanded to clasp much meats and produce. About half of each nutrient distributed by nan branch is perishable. 

With its recently expanded freezer, nan Sandhills nutrient slope tin shop doubly arsenic overmuch perishable food. Credit: Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News

Amy Beros, president and CEO of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, called nan renewal a “significant investment.”

“The timing is fortunate for america to beryllium capable to person this other capacity to meet nan continuing accrued demand,” she said. 

No substitute for SNAP

Still, Beros said, nan upgrades don’t mean nan branch tin wholly capable nan spread created by nan existent shortfall successful SNAP.

“For each 1 repast we provide, SNAP provides nine,” she said. “There’s nary measurement to charity-food-system our measurement retired of those gaps. We can’t capable those gaps, and we were ne'er meant to switch nan national information net.”

More than 486,420 group are enrolled successful SNAP crossed nan Food Bank’s larger web crossed eastbound North Carolina. Those beneficiaries relationship for astir 35 percent of nan state’s full enrollment successful nan program.

“We would request to fundamentally much than double nan size of our nutrient slope to capable that gap,” Beros said. “It’s conscionable not imaginable for us. It’s not imaginable for our partners.”

Amy Beros, president and CEO of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, speaks during an arena marking nan re-opening of nan nonprofit’s Sandhills branch connected Nov. 3, 2025. Credit: Jaymie Baxley/NC Health News

Stephany, nan vice president of communications, said SNAP is nan nation’s “first statement of defense against hunger” because it “puts money straight into families’ pockets to bargain food” — a work nan nutrient slope can’t replace.

“Our web is moving mountains to support nutrient connected folks’ tables,” he said. “But moreover pinch nan unthinkable organization generosity that we use from, we can’t dress up for these cuts done organization support alone.”

Cuts aft cuts

The limitations person been compounded by an further nonaccomplishment of national dollars that arrived conscionable arsenic request for nutrient assistance began to grow. 

Much of nan backing that helped nutrient banks support gait pinch rising request during and aft nan COVID-19 pandemic has been eliminated. For example, this spring, nan Trump management sunsetted a pandemic-era programme that enabled nutrient banks to bargain nutrient from section farmers. 

“Over nan past 9 months, we person mislaid millions of dollars successful national backing to acquisition food,” Stephany said. “The resources that we usage to meet nan rising request person been trim astatine a clip erstwhile that request is expanding significantly.”

Stephany, who said he grew up successful a food-insecure family and utilized nutrient stamps to provender himself arsenic a assemblage student, anticipates that SNAP-dependent families will beryllium leaning connected his statement for support successful nan coming weeks.  

“We conscionable want to make judge that folks cognize that nutrient is disposable correct now to each who request it,” he said. “And if you are fortunate capable to beryllium successful a position to get involved, whether that’s arsenic a philanthropist aliases a volunteer, location has ne'er been a much important clip to do so.”

People tin besides help, he said, by reaching retired to lawmakers.

“They request to perceive from america and cognize that we can’t spend to fto these cuts stand.”

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