Sequestration forcing food bank to cut feeding program - WFXG FOX54 Augusta - Your News One Hour Earlier

The Golden Harvest Food Bank hands out 14 million pounds of food to people in our area every year. But spending cuts will soon change how many people they're able to feed.

Travis McNeal is the Executive Director for the Golden Harvest Food Bank. He just got back from an anti-hunger conference in Washington D.C. where he learned how the spending cuts will play out here at home.

"They did tell us that about 600,000 people will be cut from WIC," McNeal, said.

That means some needy women and children in the CSRA who depend on the program will have to look elsewhere for their meals. But McNeal doesn't know when or how many people will be cut from the program yet.

McNeal says in one month the Golden Harvest Food Bank gives out 1.3 million meals, which amounts to 28 meals a minute.

The number of people they feed depends on how much food they have. McNeal is concerned that when the spending cuts start to chip away at people's wallets they won't chip in as much to charity.

"There will be fewer dollars and we will not be able to give to all of the favorite charities that we want to and people will be picking and choosing," said McNeal.

He says food bank officials at the national level are afraid of how these cuts will affect the hungry.

"There is a lot of fear because they know that the need is so great," said McNeal.

But he says they are choosing to focus on faith instead of fear.

"We've depended on faith; we were founded on faith 31 years ago," he said.

McNeal believes their faith will continue to help them put food into the hands of people who need it most.

McNeal tells Fox54 he's met with state lawmakers about the budget cuts and he says even they don't know when the feeding programs will be cut and how many people will be hurt in the process.