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Food Pantries Aid SNAP Recipients

Northern Illinois Food Bank

President Donald Trump announced recently that the government is temporarily open until the end of this week. Some agencies and services are still feeling the effects of the first shutdown over the holidays.

SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Illinois residents received early SNAP benefits for the month of February in January due to the partial government shutdown. The early benefits result from a strategy authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to keep SNAP running during the shutdown. These benefits are most commonly used for food.

 

The Illinois Department of Public Health says these benefits are early and not extras. Teresa Schryver is an advocacy and awareness specialist at the Northern Illinois Food Bank. She said receiving SNAP benefits early could create a gap in food security.

"We're fully expecting there to be a heightened need of individuals needing assistance to fill that gap that's being created,” she said.

She added that people should consider food banks a support. "So then you can make sure you stretch your SNAP dollars as best as you can," she said.

There are 19 other food pantries across Northern Illinois. Statewide, 1.8 million people receive benefits through SNAP.