Boxes of food from the Maryland Food Bank arrived at the Westminster Rescue Mission on Wednesday morning, with the weight of the Saturday SNAP funding deadline hanging in the air.
Thousands of Carroll County residents rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, to access food and make ends meet. About a month into the federal government shutdown, food pantries, local government officials and community members are preparing for a new food insecurity crisis.
According to Lillian Price from the Maryland Department of Human Services, August 2025 data shows that 8,919 Carroll County residents receive SNAP. Statewide, 680,000 residents receive SNAP benefits, including nearly 270,000 children.
With funding for SNAP benefits set to dry up this weekend, the urgency of government dysfunction created by the shutdown feels stronger than ever before. Food insecurity in the state has only grown more severe amid federal worker layoffs and furloughs.
“It’s like a perfect storm,” Westminster Rescue Mission Director Stephanie Halley said. “Decreased funding and increased need. That’s what we’re seeing.”
Westminster Rescue Mission houses two major programs: the Addiction Healing Center and the Mission Food Program. Donn Dietrich is the food program director at Westminster Rescue Mission. He said he often runs into people who misunderstand the population that receives food assistance.
“People tend to think that people receiving SNAP benefits are … sitting at home and not working,” he said. In reality, Dietrich said, the majority of people in need that he’s interacted with are seniors and single parents. “They get a medical bill, and now they can’t buy food, or they get a car repair, and they can’t buy food,” he said. “Most of the people that need food are all in crisis with many other things,” Dietrich added.
The Westminster Rescue Mission serves as the county’s dedicated redistribution organization, coordinating and distributing food from the Maryland Food Bank, and other sources, to 28 downstream pantry partners, which vary in size.
From Sept. 1, 2024, to Aug. 31, 2025, the Westminster Rescue Mission distributed more than 1.24 million pounds of food. While individual pantry patrons are more difficult to track, the mission says it supports 10,000 pantry visits per month.
Meg Kimmel, president and CEO of Maryland Food Bank, painted a picture of the statewide anxiety taking hold at a news conference Wednesday: “On Friday alone, just a couple days ago, we received 4,000 website visits to our Find Food page. We have never seen those numbers before.”
Strains on funding for food pantries and food banks have also made the work of food insecurity nonprofits more difficult. Finding new funding sources is harder, as organizations scramble to find different financing options with a shrinking grant pool and increased strain on nonprofits nationwide.
Caroline Babylon is the director of Carroll County Food Sunday, an organization that provides supplemental groceries weekly to people in need. On Wednesday, CCFS held an open house, allowing donors and community members to tour its Westminster facility in an effort to improve communal understanding of food insecurity in the county and the work CCFS does to address it.
“We need more support,” said Brian Backe, vice president of the CCFS board. The number of unique families visiting CCFS per month increased from 908 in May 2025 to 1,021 in July 2025. “The last time we served this many families was in the economic downturn of 2008,” Babylon wrote to the Times.
The imperative need for collective action
The mounting challenges of food insecurity aren’t being ignored. Local officials and community leaders are making a significant effort to highlight food insecurity challenges in Carroll County, and develop solutions and resources to serve thousands of county residents experiencing increased need.
Celene Steckel is the director of Citizen Services for the Carroll County government. She said that the county will release a specific resource guide list before Saturday so residents who will go without SNAP benefits can learn more about programs that can help.
A county food resource guide was created during the pandemic, in collaboration with the food insecurity nonprofits in the county, which includes operation times for each food distribution site, pantry, and soup kitchen. Steckel also said she wants impacted residents to understand that public schools and senior centers provide food and resources.
“What Carroll County really is known for, is pulling together,” Steckel said, noting the immense collaborative efforts among different local organizations. She also encouraged residents who have the ability to give, to do so, by looking through the resource guide and making contact with a local pantry or soup kitchen. “Get in touch with them directly to make that donation,” she said.
Have a news tip? Contact Gabriella Fine at gfine@baltsun.com or at 443-900-1296.
