With the federal government shut down nearing its first month, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, runs out of money this Saturday, several days before state emergency funds are poised to fill the gap.
At a Louisa County food bank, though, there’s no pause in traffic from residents seeking help to put food on the table.
There’s not much in Heather Hauser’s refrigerator. “Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, Kool-Aid. That’s it,” Hauser recounts.
It’s why she comes to the Louisa County Resource Council most months to pick up groceries, including, today, frozen pizzas to fresh turmeric, Greek yoghurt, iceberg lettuce, rolls, and sliced raisin bread.
In addition to federal disability benefits, Hauser and her 17-year-old son also buy food with their SNAP benefits, funds that are set to expire Saturday, due to the government shutdown but before emergency state funds earmarked for nutrition assistance become available next week.
For Hauser, who works part-time in a Richmond day care, the food bank is a lifeline in a moment when government operations are frozen solid.
“It hurts because they’re supposed to be helping but they’re hurting us more,” Hauser said. “It’s really sad they’re doing this. Everybody, not just me, it’s everybody in Virginia, it the U.S., that has food stamps, they’re hurting, too.”
On average, Virginia households on SNAP get about $177 per person each month, or just under $6 per person per day. More than 850,000 Virginians—about one in 11 people in the state—received SNAP benefits in September 2025. Just over 4,000 of those, including Hauser, live in Louisa County.
Lloyd Runnett is executive director of the Louisa County Resource Council, which lies just off Chalklevel Road near route 208 between the towns of Mineral and Louisa. He’s worked in emergency response for more than 50 years, and at the food bank for the last ten.
“I have dealt with floods, and fires, and tornadoes, hurricanes, ice storms,” said Runnett, “but this is the first time that I’ve ever dealt with a disaster created by political polarization. There’s no beginning or end. With an environmental emergency, you know when the storm’s going to come, but we just don’t know what this will look like or how long it will last.”
In a typical month, Runnett and his team of volunteers distribute wheeled cartloads of donated food Monday to Thursday to as many as 1,900 households. Between SNAP’s halt this Saturday and the launch of Gov. Youngkin’s emergency nutrition assistance program next week, funded by a budget surplus, they’re now assembling emergency food bags to distribute over the weekend.
To get one, Runnett said recipients need to have a Louisa County address, to self-report their income, and call him. And for those not on SNAP who need food, like 74-year-old Karen Anderson, who’s worked at the Louisa McDonald’s for nearly the last 30 years, the food bank’s here when money’s tight and the garden’s “done dried up.”
“Since I can’t work full-time, this definitely helps. I was buying whatever we needed at the store, and if I didn’t have any money, I just did without,” Anderson said as she loaded cucumbers and frozen meat into a freezer bag into the trunk of her car. “This is a very good idea that helps a lot of people that need the help.”
Runnett said even after the state swoops in with support, he expects the Resource Council—which has distributed nearly 12% more food in 2025 than the previous year—to keep busy, with the number of per-household residents in Louisa on the rise.
“The challenges with the SNAP, it’s why we are who we are and do what we do,” Runnett said. “The community trusts us. They knew we’re here to walk alongside our most vulnerable population.”
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.