The Robeson County Church and Community Center wants to help residents who might struggle to feed their families if food assistance benefits are suspended during the government shutdown. 

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, was expected to halt on November 1. A federal judge ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, must release the benefits. But there could still be delays.

The Robeson County Church and Community Center in Lumberton serves tens of thousands of residents each year, including through its food pantry. Now the nonprofit is stocking its shelves with more shelf-stable food that can stretch across multiple weeks and meals.

“Being a county in which one-third of our residents are already at or below poverty, we’re always teetering on the line of a crisis,” Executive Director Brianna Goodwin told the Border Belt Independent on Tuesday. “It doesn’t really take many external factors for people to get into dangerous territory here.”

Goodwin said her organization is providing financial support to other local food banks, including Church Community Services in Laurinburg. RCCC plans to buy food from local grocery stores because they too could struggle due to fewer shoppers. 

The Walmart Neighborhood Market on West Fifth Street in Lumberton closed in 2020, and Goodwin said she wants to do everything she can to keep other grocery stores in the county open. 

The Border Belt region of Bladen, Columbus, Robeson and Scotland counties has some of the highest rates in the state for SNAP benefits for low-income residents. More than 30 percent of people in Robeson and Scotland counties are enrolled in SNAP, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Over 22% of people in Columbus and Bladen counties participate in the program.

North Carolina and 25 other states are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds SNAP. N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson said during a press conference on Tuesday that he hopes courts will “act with emergency speed” to force the agency to release funds to maintain the program.

“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,” he said. “They have emergency money to help feed children during this shutdown, and they’re refusing to spend it.”

Goodwin said food pantries will help fill a gap, but it won’t be enough. 

“We physically cannot do everything that needs to be done,” she said. “We need more than just us addressing this crisis. We need some people who are just good Samaritans who are going to check on their neighbors, who are going to check on the school that’s in their community. If we’re going to get through this, it’s going to require that.”

WIC, the federal nutrition assistance program for pregnant people and their young children, is expected to halt in mid-November.  

Here, the BBI compiled a list of local food pantries and free meal programs in the Border Belt. 

Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina also has an online search tool to help find your nearest food bank. Other resources can be found at nc211.org, the state’s information and referral service for basic needs. 

Bladen County

Food pantries

  • First Baptist Church of Bladenboro: 500 S. Main Street, Bladenboro; 910-863-3618. The food pantry is open from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. the second Saturday of each month.
  • Bladen Crisis Food Pantry: 208 South Morehead Street, Elizabethtown; 910-879-1032. Residents age 62 and older can access the food pantry every first and third Thursday of the month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All other residents are served on the second and fourth Thursdays. 
  • Windsor United Methodist Food Pantry: 12863 Highway 242, Elizabethtown; 910-588-4602. The food pantry is open from 10 a.m. to noon the third Saturday of every month. Seniors can also access the pantry on the second Thursday of each month.
  • Men and Women United for Youth and Families: 1795 Woodyard Road, Riegelwood,, or 44 Dream Avenue, Delcon; 910-655-3811. The Delco food pantry opens at 11 a.m.  every third Thursday of the month. The Riegelwood food pantry opens at 1 p.m. every third Thursday of the month. While the locations are in Columbus County, residents from Bladen County are welcome. 

Columbus County

Food pantries

  • Bogue Community Citizens Association: 1036 Jockey Road, Hallsboro; 910-317-6064. The food pantry is open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the fourth Friday of each month and on the fourth Saturday by appointment.
  • Harvest Table: 211 E. Columbus Street, Whiteville; 910-642-6654. The food pantry is open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. 
  • Lake Waccamaw Food Ministry: 300 Sam Potts Highway, Lake Waccamaw; 910-646-3727. The food pantry is open from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. the fourth Saturday of every month.
  • Men and Women United for Youth and Families: 1795 Woodyard Road, Riegelwood, or 44 Dream Avenue, Delco 28436; 910-655-3811. The Delco food pantry opens at 11 a.m.  every third Thursday of the month. The Riegelwood food pantry opens at 1 p.m. every third Thursday of the month. 
  • St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: 507 Money Hole Road, Bolton; 910-622-7684. The food pantry is open from noon to 2 p.m. every Thursday.

Meal programs

  • Facts of Life Church Campus Two: 506 North Lee Street, Whiteville; 910-918-4531. The food pantry is open from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. the first and third Saturdays of the month. and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. Home delivery is available via DoorDash.

Transportation 

  • Residents who need a ride to food pantries or food programs can call Columbus County Transportation at 810-642-7201, according to a joint statement from the county’s social services and health departments.

Robeson County

Food pantries

  • Robeson County Church and Community Center: 600 W. 5th Street, Lumberton; 910-738-5204. The food pantry hands out a week’s worth of food from 10 a.m. to noon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Residents can access the pantry once a month. The organization alternates taking its mobile pantry to St. Pauls, Rowland, Maxton, Red Springs, and Fairmont on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The organization will host a special food pantry from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 1, at its campus.  

  • CARE Resource Center at UNC Pembroke: 902 Dogwood Lane, Pembroke; 910-775-4367. The food pantry is on UNC Pembroke’s campus but is open to community members who attend monthly educational workshops. Students, faculty, staff, and community members can access the pantry once a month. It is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
  • BART’s Food Pantry: 415 Country Club Drive, Lumberton. Hours are 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Residents are asked not to use the pantry more than twice per month.

Meal programs

  • Godwin Heights Baptist Church: 704 Godwin Avenue, Lumberton; 910-739-7574. Serves a meal at 10:30 a.m. every first Saturday of the month.
  • First Presbyterian Church: 1002 N. Chestnut Street, Lumberton; 910- 739-7581. Serves a meal at 10:30 a.m. every second Saturday of the month.
  • First Baptist Church: 606 N. Walnut Street, Lumberton; 910-739-4336. Serves a meal at 10:30 a.m. every third Saturday of the month.
  • Chestnut Street Methodist Church: 200 E. 8th Street; 910) 739-3304. Serves a meal at 10:30 a.m. every fourth Saturday of the month except in December.
  • The Birthing Place Church: 2007 Oakwood Street, Lumberton; 910-583-9012. Serves a meal at 10:30 a.m. every fifth Saturday of the month.

Scotland County

Food pantries

  • Partners in Ministry: 12 Third Street, East Laurinburg; 910-277-3355. The food pantry opens at 3 p.m. on the first and third Fridays of the month and at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays (except for holidays).
  • Church Community Services: 108 S. Gill Street, Laurinburg; 910-276-8330. The food bank is open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and clients can shop up to twice a month as long as there’s a two-week gap between visits. Residents can select up to 12 soup cans and a single sleeve of crackers every Friday.
  • First United Methodist Church: 101 West Church Street, Laurinburg; 910-276-1592. The food pantry opens at 7:30 a.m. the second Saturday of each month.
  • Restoring Hope Center: 1206 North Main Street, Laurinburg; 910-276-4460. A drive-thru pantry is open from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays

Border Belt Independent Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues and can be supported through a donation to the Border Belt Reporting Center, Inc.

Morgan Casey covers health care in southeastern North Carolina for The Assembly Network. She is a Report for America corps member and holds a master's degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University. You can contact her at morgancasey@borderbelt.org.