Groundswell of efforts begins to address nearly 4,700 Outer Bankers potentially facing November without monthly food assistance
- Corinne Saunders
- Oct 30
- 10 min read
People attend a Food Bank of the Albemarle-run mobile food pantry at the Community Care Clinic of Dare in Nags Head. These events are held twice a month, and the food bank operates many other mobile food pantries across northeastern North Carolina. (Photo courtesy Food Bank of the Albemarle)
By Corinne Saunders
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Community members concerned with an expected rise in food insecurity amid an ongoing federal government shutdown and in the face of the first-ever anticipated federal pause on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have been seeking and creating ways to help their neighbors.
Nearly 4,700 Outer Bankers stand to lose their monthly food assistance, according to state data.
“I have been inundated every day since 4:00 in the morning with, ‘How can I help? What can I do?!’” said Cathy Diemer, director of the Cape Hatteras Food Pantry.
In response, she prepared a letter outlining how people can donate items or funds, as well as how people can access the volunteer-run food pantry serving Hatteras Island residents. Hatteras Island Meals has operated the Cape Hatteras Food Pantry since Jan. 1. Click the document below to read Diemer’s letter.
The Dare County Department of Health & Human Services on Wednesday issued a press release alerting residents that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) directed the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to pause all November SNAP benefits until further notice.
“Unless this suspension is lifted soon, November benefits will not be issued,” the release said, with the second half of the sentence bolded.
The release encouraged residents experiencing financial hardship to reach out to a list of community resources to learn about available support. Click the document below to see the list.
Currituck County similarly has a list of food resources available to residents. Click below to view.
Food Bank of the Albemarle, the regional Feeding America-affiliated food bank that is based in Elizabeth City but serves 15 northeastern North Carolina counties, maintains an online list of its mobile food pantries throughout the region.
The organization through its various mobile food pantries collectively already serves about 200-300 households each month in Dare County, 60-70 households in Currituck County, 110-150 households in Hyde County and about 200-230 households in Tyrrell County.
The impacts of SNAP benefits’ suspension and the potential future suspension of Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program funding are not yet known, but the food bank said it is concerned for area families.
“SNAP is the first line of defense against hunger,” spokesperson Brian Gray said in a Thursday email. “While our food bank network of 100 programs provides more than 8 million meals to local families every year, SNAP provides nine meals for every one we provide.”
He added that every $1 in SNAP benefits generates more than $1.50 in local economic activity, which is especially important in rural communities.
“We are deeply concerned that this shutdown may reduce federal food supplies just as more families are turning to us for assistance,” Gray said. “SNAP benefits will continue through October, and WIC is still operating; however, both could be affected if the shutdown lasts.”
The federal government shutdown is compounded by the lack of a state budget, Gray noted.
“The N.C. General Assembly has long supported the collaboration between N.C.’s food banks and farmers with a state appropriation for local food purchases,” he said. “But for the first time in 30 years, the continuation budget does not include the $1 million in funding—a loss of more than 800,000 meals.”
The food bank is calling on the community to act by donating, advocating for hunger relief, volunteering and hosting food drives, he said.
Meanwhile, the Kitty Hawk-based Beach Food Pantry has reported a significant increase in need in the last week.
“We have seen a dramatic increase in the last week,” Executive Director Elisabeth Silverthorne said in a Thursday email. “We expect that to continue as long as the SNAP postponements are an issue.”
With its over three decades of serving the community through various crises, Silverthorne said the food pantry has contingency plans in place if needed, including adding service hours and potentially days, as well as planning a small pantry space that is accessible 24/7.
Currently, 60 households a week is the maximum for in-store shopping, and annual holiday meals start the first week of November, as usual. People can fill out an online intake form to begin the process.
Food and paper bag donations are always accepted, and Silverthorne said that monetary donations are always preferable.
“It allows us to purchase exactly what we need, as we can absorb it,” she said. “It also allows the community’s dollars to go farther as we can take advantage of wholesale accounts we have in place.”
Only 30% of Beach Food Pantry customers qualify for government assistance programs, and 80% are employed, she told Outer Banks Insider in March. Many people don’t come in on a regular basis, but they come in crisis situations.
The Peace Garden Project, organized by Rev. Dr. Michelle Lewis, does a monthly food distribution for seniors through a partnership with Food Bank of the Albemarle at Roanoke Island Presbyterian Church in Manteo.
“They provide dry goods,” Lewis said. “We supplement with fresh produce. Some of it we grow, some of it we buy from local farmers.”
The project provides lunch before the food distribution, which is usually the second Tuesday of the month but will be Friday, Nov. 14, next month. Any seniors interested in attending can email peacegardenprj@gmail.com or call 929-266-3775.
The Peace Garden Project is accepting dry and canned goods for seniors at the free public screening of the restored version of the Academy Award-nominated film “Building Bombs” it’s offering on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 6:00 p.m. at Roanoke Island Festival Park. Director Susan J. Robinson will attend for a Q&A session after the film. For more information, visit the project’s Facebook page.
A new group for direct assistance
Manteo resident Kalila Roche, who has experienced food insecurity personally and whose childhood involved tight family budgets, started a Facebook group to help locals between food pantry visits or who may fall through the cracks otherwise.
“I just saw a need,” the 25-year-old said.
At the suggestion of some friends, she spontaneously started the group on Friday, Oct. 24, which has grown to nearly 300 members in less than a week: “Food is Fellowship- an OBX food/goods/donation page.”
Kalila Roche stands outside in Nags Head on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)
The idea is like “Buy Nothing” groups, where people post what they are willing to give away and then arrange item drop offs or pick-ups with the interested parties.
But Roche is also listing food pantries and blessing box locations, where people can go pick up free food items on their own schedule.
One person is donating heavy duty 27-gallon tote buckets with lids, and Roche is planning to locate these with the help of willing businesses or organizations to provide climate-safe pickup locations that are larger than some of the existing stationary blessing boxes.
Jaclynn Peters, owner of OBX Wake & Take, a breakfast bakery in Nags Head, learned of Roche’s Facebook group from a friend and plans to have one of the totes outside her store. She will donate her leftover bakery goods, as well.
“It’s scary what’s going on—that a lot of people are gonna be in a crappy situation because of what’s happening, so I certainly want to help, you know, in any way I can,” Peters, 40, said.
She said she was a single mom in her 20s who benefited from SNAP and other community programs and is glad to be able to give back.
“I definitely want to make sure that people know that they can come to us…if they need something, we’re happy to help,” Peters said.
Roche envisions people also leaving can openers, toiletry items, diapers, formula, boxed milk, hand warmers and even blankets and toys in the various tote bucket locations.
“The other thing that I’ve been encouraging has been like children’s activities—things like coloring books, crayons, little Dollar Tree toys,” Roche said.
She recalled her parents being unable to afford little toy splurges when she was growing up.
“They were always on such a tight budget that we could never get just a cute little toy or something if we wanted it,” Roche said. “I know so many families that are probably in that same boat, and I think those are just things that just get overlooked.”
She noted “the vicious cycle” of poverty, housing and food scarcity and health issues from diets high in processed food and a lack of health insurance.
At the same time, she and her wife, Rachael Roche, both called food “the most basic human right.”
Rachael Roche, 24, said she was food insecure when she lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia, because of the high cost of living.
“I worked three jobs at some points [and] still didn’t really make enough, so I’ve definitely had those sleep-is-for-dinner-tonight kind of nights,” she said.
Kalila Roche said she’s been overwhelmed with the large, overwhelmingly positive response to her group.
“People have jumped on it,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing, like, thank you so much, this is what we need, this is community, this is togetherness.’”
She noted that food is not only necessary, but it brings people together and is culture.
“Food is so much more than just keeping you alive,” she said. “There’s so many other things you’re losing when you lose those benefits, when you lose the access to food.”
Local numbers
A total of 2,484 households in Currituck, Dare and Hyde counties receive SNAP, representing a total of 4,693 people, according to data provided by a spokesperson with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Office of Communications.
Currituck County has the most individuals using SNAP, with 2,031 people in 975 households benefiting, according to numbers spokesperson Hannah E. Jones shared with Outer Banks Insider on Wednesday.
Dare County has the most households using SNAP, with 1,944 people in 1,104 households, state data shows. In Hyde County, 718 people in 405 households use SNAP.
Across North Carolina, 1.4 million residents—including over 580,000 children and over 151,000 seniors—receive SNAP, according to state information.
Eligible recipients of SNAP have net incomes not exceeding the federal poverty line. That’s around $31,000 per year for a family of four in 2025, according to the lawsuit North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and other Democratic attorneys general and governors of 25 states filed against the USDA on Tuesday.
“Nearly 600,000 children in our state could be without food in a few days because USDA is playing an illegal game of shutdown politics,” Jackson said in a Tuesday press release. “They have emergency money to help feed children during this shutdown, and they’re refusing to spend it. I warned them last week that I would take them to court if they tried to hurt our kids, and today that’s what we’re doing.”
The temporary restraining order filed along with the lawsuit alleges that USDA has access to around $6 billion that Congress appropriated for SNAP contingency funding and publicly stated plans to use that, until reversing course this month.
A Monday report by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities similarly found that the Trump Administration could use contingency funding for SNAP.
“Under past shutdowns, during both Republican and Democratic administrations, SNAP benefits have always been provided using available funding sources to prevent a break in benefits,” the report said.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein announced in a Thursday press release that the state is granting $10 million to food banks across the state as they prepare for an influx of need, with other organizations giving nearly $8 million toward the effort.
Food assistance programs under duress
Area food banks and food pantries were already strained, between more people turning to them amid a rising cost of living and federal funding being slashed earlier this year, as Outer Banks Insider reported on March 24.
Those cuts came amid the self-described cost-saving efforts of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led at the time by billionaire Elon Musk.
The Outer Banks area lost over $227,000 from the total $1 billion cancellations of two USDA programs that purchased food from local farmers, seafood producers and businesses.
Currituck, Dare and Hyde counties lost a total of $207,655 for food purchases from local seafood producers and farmers from the cancellation of the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, Food Bank of the Albemarle Executive Director Liz Reasoner said at the time.
Meanwhile, the need for food had only grown.
“The demand has increased by 10-20% across the region as the cost of living (gas, groceries and services) continues to rise,” Reasoner had said.
Losses to Currituck County Schools and Hyde County Schools were not immediately clear, but Dare County Schools lost $19,520 annually starting in the 2025-26 school year from a cut to the Local Food for Schools program, which sourced local products for schools from farmers and small businesses, according to School Nutrition Director Kelleta Govan.
“This program helped provide fresh, healthy meals to students by sourcing local products from farmers and small businesses,” Govan told Outer Banks Insider in March. “We will use our existing funds, but the cut will reduce the variety of fresh and local produce being purchased.”
For more information about donating, volunteering or accessing local food resources, visit the websites for the Beach Food Pantry at https://beachfoodpantry.org/, the Cape Hatteras Food Pantry at https://www.hatterasislandmeals.org/, Food Bank of the Albemarle at https://afoodbank.org/ or call any of the resources included in the county lists.
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