Child Hunger in Logan County With child hunger rates rising nationwide following the end of the Public Health Emergency, rural areas such as Logan County, West Virginia, which were already vulnerable to food insecurity before the pandemic, are feeling the effects of increased demand and limited supply. by Evan Green
According to WV Kids Count, 36.9% of children in Logan County are in poverty. This is an 11.5% increase since 2019. A large portion of this increase can be attributed to the end of the Public Health Emergency and diminished funding. Food banks, pantries, and public health services across the county, propped up during the pandemic by government aid money, have now been cut off from those funds. As people across the county have lost their boosted SNAP benefits due to the health emergency’s end, many
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2023 REPORT: HEALTH AND HUNGER IN WEST VIRGINIA
of these food pantries have seen higher numbers than before the pandemic. “The numbers do keep rising. We have people that come regularly, but then every time we do it, it’s nothing for me to register 10 to 20 more families each time, new people,” Chad Akers, President of the Hungry Lambs Food Initiative, said. Akers has worked at Hungry Lambs since 2019, just before the pandemic. Hungry Lambs is one of the largest food pantries in Logan County, and its numbers have only risen since the end of the pandemic.
Chad Akers
“I think we’re doing the best we can to manage the problem. I do see a rising right now. Like I said, the last two times we have done our distribution, I don’t want to say record-highs, but it’s been the highest amount of families we’ve served in a year or more,” Akers said.
