Driving into Wheeling via 16th Street on Tuesday morning, something was amiss. It was still an hour from noon, yet the line outside the Wheeling Soup Kitchen was already filling up.

On 18th Street, the number of people milling about Catholic Charities’ 18th Street Center was noticeably larger. On Chapline Street, vehicles were double-parked in the parking lot of St. Mathew’s Episcopal Church. People were hurrying in and out of the food pantry at the church.

Across the street at St. James Evangelical Church, people were clustered near the door of the food pantry offered at the church. The doors were not officially opened yet, however the good volunteers at the church were doing their best to accommodate nearly double the usual number of people who made appointments to receive food.

All of this activity was in response to the expected shut down of federally-sponsored food programs set to begin Nov. 1 if a new federal budget is not passed ASAP. At the time I am writing this, that has not occurred.

In West Virginia, it is estimated that 14 to 17 percent of its residents utilize federal food money or SNAP. That number is around 270,000 people, a significant amount for our small state.

Normally at this time of the year, most of the food pantries and charitable distributions are gearing up to provide Thanksgiving food packages for those in need. It looks like those requests will be increasing as well.

Ohio Valley residents have always been generous to those struggling with food and other life necessities in hard times. However, this time may be the straw that broke the camel’s back with the sheer demand.

At the Gabriel Project in Wheeling where I volunteer, the agency provides free baby formula, diapers and clothes to families in need with children from infancy to 3 years of age. It was becoming clear on Tuesday that the demand for such services also was ramping up.

A young mother who came in for formula and baby clothes said she and her husband had always been able to provide for their family without assistance. However, circumstances changed, and she tearfully expressed her sincere gratitude for Gabriels’ help.

Thank you to all the local organizations and volunteers who are taking care of their fellow man. You are truly the Good Samaritans of our valley and beyond.

I don’t pretend to understand the politics behind such behavior today in Washington, D.C. I just know that there is something wrong with elected officials collecting paychecks and benefits while their constituents are going without basic needs.

Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.