Government shutdown effects on food assistance

MILTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – The effects of the ongoing government shutdown are making life harder for many. One church said they felt the impacts from the start.

Will Basham, founding pastor at New Heights Church in Milton, said families are seeking help to put food on the table and worrying about a future without government assistance.

“We have several members not getting a paycheck right now, having to still go into work and some of them are off work,” Basham said. “With that impact, we saw that immediately.”

He went on to say, “They’re not lazy people, like they’re hard-working people that are committed to doing what they need to do. But they really, really rely on that assistance because of some circumstances in their life that aren’t their fault, and they’re facing pretty dire circumstances.”

Basham said the church is taking in groceries or money to help feed families in need, and there’s no limit on who or where they’ll serve.

“Sometimes when we do like canned food drives, people bring the canned food that they wouldn’t eat, you know so I think about my own kids,” he said. What would they want in the pantry? I encourage people to bring that and we do have the capacity to take some stuff, keep it cold and then deliver it.”

Basham said the church and community always come together in times of need, and he’s hoping their work inspires others to do the same.

“That service and that worship leads us to love and serve other people, and so regardless of where we may fall politically, when we see there’s a need we want to try and meet that need,” Basham said.

The church said the best way to donate is dropping off groceries on Sunday after morning services, with one last chance on Monday morning before deliveries start at 9 a.m.

To donate money for groceries, New Heights Church is taking donations online.