Food pantry organizers in Butler County are preparing for an expected increase in clients because of the recent reduction in federal funding for food stamps, and because of the coming holidays.

The 5 percent reduction in the $80 billion federal program went into effect Nov. 1.

After the cuts, a family of four on food stamps will lose about $36 in benefits per month, reducing them to $632.

The funding cut is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, called the “stimulus package.”

Sue Shaltes, coordinator for the Cabot United Methodist Church Food Bank, said she expects the pantry to see a rise in families in need.

“It’s already started to increase,” she said.

Shaltes said the pantry in Cabot has served about 115 families in the past two months, up about 10 families compared to previous months.

“I think people will really notice it,” she said of the cuts. “It’s going to hurt people.”

She said she expects to see even more people using the bank soon.

“It always gets busy during the holidays,” she said.

But while Shaltes expects the cuts in food stamps to bring in more people, she thinks the pantry will get by all right.

“I wouldn’t expect it to be a major problem,” she said. “Our community is really generous with its donations.”

Shaltes said fewer than half of the families who use the food bank receive food stamps.

“We’re always surprised how low those numbers are,” she said.

Jeff Bly, the coordinator of the Petroleum Valley Food Cupboard in Petrolia, said, “It probably will impact us,” he said of the cuts. “I’m sure people that don’t have the food they need will come see us.”

The pantry serves families from Karns City, Petrolia, Bruin, Chicora and Fairview as well as Donegal, Fairview and Parker townships.

Bly said the Petroleum Valley pantry gets about 85 families per month.

“Right now about half of the families are collecting food stamps, half are not,” he said.

Nearly 17,000 people in the county received food stamps in September, according to the state Department of Public Welfare.

Those residents redeemed more than $1.8 million in benefits just for that month, averaging about $118 per person.

In the 2012-13 fiscal year, the county government also got more than $120,000 in state funds for food assistance programs. That money helped nearly 5,000 families.

“We’re very concerned about the impact of the cuts,” said Lisa Scales, the CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, which distributes food to Butler County food pantries.

Scales said the impact is two-fold because those on food stamps who depend on pantries will need more food, and others who have not used the pantries in the past may start doing so now.

“We’re expecting to see a spike in first-time users,” she said.

Perry O’Malley, the director of the county’s housing and redevelopment authority, said low income families certainly will feel the affects of the cuts.

“Many of the people that rely on food stamps are disabled or low income families with children,” he said.

The housing authority manages eight senior housing complexes, six low- income housing complexes, and numerous single family units.

“I don’t know where many of our clients will get the resources they need,” O’Malley said. “I’m sure the people making these laws are eating well though.”

O’Malley said the authority has food pantries at its senior complexes, but its low income families in need of assistance rely on other pantries.

The St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Butler provides for hundreds of families every month. There the number of new households receiving food has been going up.

There were 172 new households that received food last month. A year ago, there were only 73 new households on the list.

“Things are starting to pick up as far as clients go,” said Lewis Czzowitz, a volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. “Usually, the beginning of this month is slow ... but they’re coming in earlier.”

The same thing is occurring at the Salvation Army in Butler. It serves 200 to 300 families in its monthly distributions.

“I’ve had numerous calls,” said Amy Tebay, an administrative assistant at Salvation Army. “I definitely see an influx coming ... I’m not sure what to expect because Christmas time is a bit crazier anyway.”

Tebay said Butler County Community College has done an annual food drive to help the Salvation Army. But BC3 has expanded that this year, to help offset new families who might need some extra help.

At the Gleaner’s Food Bank in the annex of St. Ferdinand Roman Catholic Church, food bank director Linda Heery expects an increase of new clients. “We’re ready,” she said. “We usually see an increase this year because of the winter heating bills. But we do expect to pick up more clients.”

The Cranberry Township food pantry already had an unexpected increase in activity in October, with six new clients receiving food allocations. Typically, the food bank sees two to three new clients per month.

But not all the food bank’s clients are food stamp recipients, Heery noted. About 50 percent are senior citizens on fixed incomes.

The food bank will have a couple of food drives soon to help stay ahead of what officials believe will be increased demand.

“We’re lucky here. We have really great support from the community and the local businesses,” Heery said.

Cindy Cipoletti, associate director at the Lighthouse Foundation, said the food cupboard at her facility on Route 8 in Middlesex Township has had an increase in distributions before food stamp allocations recently were decreased.

“We expect now, with the cut, that we will continue to see an even bigger increase,” Cipoletti said.

The Lighthouse so far in 2013 gave food to 200 families per week, compared to 175 families in 2012, Cipoletti said.

She said in a time when the annual budget is tight due to state cuts and other funding reductions, The Lighthouse must increase its food order. She said officials also are considering asking grocery stores that donate food to increase their allocations.

“We’re trying to prepare ourselves,” Cipoletti said.

Families who receive the twice-monthly distributions from The Lighthouse get frozen meat, fresh produce, canned goods, boxed dinners, bread, and recipes for healthy eating. The size of their allocations depends on their family size.

“We provide (each family) enough food for two weeks,” Cipoletti said.

Families who receive food from The Lighthouse Food Bank are not required to provide income information. They must only show some form of identification and declare that they are in need of food.

Cipoletti said she is disappointed that the food stamp program was cut.

“It’s too bad because there are families that are really struggling to make it, even working families,” Cipoletti said. “We are happy that we can provide food and take one burden away from them.”

Eagle staff writers Paula Grubbs, Bob Schultz, Will DeShong and Kate Malongowski contributed to this report.