ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: Frank Woodson helps keep his neighbors fed and his 55+ community.

FRANK WOODSON: This food bank its everything to me.

It just makes me feel overjoyed that I can help somebody, you know?

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: Every Tuesday, some of his neighbors gather to pick up extra food to tide them over.

Woodson recalls one man's reaction to the generosity.

FRANK WOODSON: He got the plate to go, and when he came up there, back to the front, tears were rolling down his eyes ‘cause the man was hungr, you know?

And he, I guess that hot meal it meant something to him, you know?

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: The night we caught up with Woodson, he and his neighbor Mary Njai were collecting food donations.

Njai helps Woodson run the food bank each week.

MARY NJAI: Sometimes we fall short here at the food bank.

And some of us, you know, need a little extra help.

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: Both Njai and Woodson receive SNAP benefits, once called food stamps, which help them pay for their own pantry staples each month.

MARY NJAI: It's not a whole lot, but it does help fill in the gaps the most where I needed it.

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: About 165,000 seniors in Virginia don't have enough to eat, according to the Federation of Virginia Food Banks.

Eddie Oliver, who leads the organization, says less than 40% of eligible seniors take advantage of available SNAP benefits.

EDDIE OLIVER: There are a lot of seniors on fixed incomes who their budgets are just stretched a lot of different ways.

They don't have the ability to go out and make more money, get new jobs, etc.

they fixed with what they've got and so they often end up cutting back, sacrificing on meals, and that really harms their health.

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: Recently it's gotten even tougher for Virginia's seniors to buy food with inflation, rising grocery prices and the expiration of pandemic related SNAP benefit increases.

EDDIE OLIVER: When that ended in early 2023, we immediately saw longer pantry lines, 10% to 20% more people coming for emergency food assistance at our 1,100 pantries throughout Virginia.

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: State Senator Ghazala Hashmi is sponsoring a budget amendment to increase the minimum allotted SNAP benefits from $23 to $50 a month for those 60 and over.

GHAZALA HASHMI: We have always historically been at the lower end of the number of states that provide these benefits for seniors.

I think there is a need for public will, and certainly for political action to ensure that we continue to provide nutritious options for our aging population.

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: Previous attempts to increase minimum SNAP benefits, which would have added $20 million to the annual state budget, have been unsuccessful.

But Hashmi says it could lead to better health outcomes and put more food on the table for seniors like Njai.

MARY NJAI: It made a big difference for me.

It really does because I look forward every month for my SNAP benefits that get filled up on my card and everything, so it makes a big difference.

ADRIENNE HOAR McGIBBON: Adrienne Hoar McGibbon, VPM News.