Commissioners praise Stewardstown center, report food distributions and express concern about Mountaineer Foodbank cuts

Commissioners reported on recent community activities and raised concerns about regional food-distribution funding during the Sept. 24, 2025, Monongalia County Commission meeting.

Commissioner Tom described attending the centennial celebration at the Stewardstown Community Center and said he was impressed by how well volunteers maintain the building and that it is available for public rentals. Tom and another commissioner also attended a "town and gown" meeting on Sept. 18 and described it as a positive forum for questions and discussion.

Tom reported county-organized food distributions at several locations: Black Bear Stadium/Granville with Mountain Air Food Bank distributing to more than 210 families (the transcript said "over 2 10 families" which staff confirmed as the larger Black Bear event), Ridgetale (30 families), Mountain View (58 families) and Beulah (30 families), totaling more than 300 families across events.

Tom said he is very concerned about recent cutbacks to the Mountaineer Foodbank program and the reported loss of $1,200,000,000 in federal purchasing, which he said affects both food available for distribution and farmers who previously supplied government-purchased food. He also criticized a recent federal decision described in the meeting as removing public numeric indicators used to identify food insecurity; he said removing those numbers will make it harder to track who is food insecure. Tom said he intended to write to federal legislators asking them to restore those measures.

Another commissioner echoed praise for the Stewardstown Community Center volunteers. Commissioners also thanked construction and maintenance staff for completing a kitchen at Camp Muffley, an auxiliary facility used for county events.

These remarks were part of the commissioners' reports and did not involve formal action.