Food banks and food pantries across Illinois and in the Chicago area need the public’s help more than ever as they brace for a massive surge in demand when SNAP benefits lapse Saturday.
The ongoing government shutdown has resulted in the first lapse in food stamp benefits in the nation’s history. Though the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, has a contingency fund for emergency situations like the shutdown, the USDA has opted not to use it and instead suspend benefits for more than 40 million Americans starting on Nov. 1.
Gov. JB Pritzker issued an executive order directing $20 million to food banks like the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help them distribute more meals across cook county. Nearly 2 million Illinois residents are SNAP participants and 900,000 of them are in Cook County…