Mountaineer Food Bank feeding vets and pets

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) - The Mountaineer Food Bank does monthly drives for veterans across the state, but now with some help they’re going to be able to keep their pets fed too.

The third Friday of every month goes a long way for veterans in our area and now for their pets too.

Gabriela Schoolcraft says the Mountaineer Food Bank provides a box of nutritious food for these veterans and this time it came with a big bag of cat or dog food.

“When we come to the Veterans Table Program, often times our veterans will have pets in the seat next to them, so being able to provide them with a box of food as well as their pets is just an incredible thing we get to do,” said Schoolcraft.

It’s run out of the V.A. Memorial Park in Clarksburg from 8am to 10am, but some of the cars line up as early as 4am.

The Segal Law Firm is providing a donation the food bank says will help supply pet food for the next 6 months.

Scott Segal was there to help out and says this is a heartbreaking issue.

“I think it’s shocking that people that we send to places that we know they’re going to be broken, whether emotionally or physically, come back and have to struggle for basic things like food -- that is shocking to me,” said Segal. “We found out that many veterans were pulling over and feeding their dogs their own food.”

Schoolcraft says around 13,000 West Virginia veterans struggle daily with food insecurity. The drive Friday helped out over 400 service members and their furry friends.

The Mountaineer Food Bank has 7 of these locations and feeds about 1,200 veterans per month.

“Our veterans deserve all of the help we can give them, food insecurity is really heartbreaking no matter the circumstance, but it’s especially heartbreaking taking into consideration the sacrifices that our veterans have made,” said Schoolcraft.

Copyright 2023 WDTV. All rights reserved.