A Note From Jennie: Responding to SNAP Cuts

When SNAP benefits were cut in Illinois, the impact was immediate, devastating, and has since created a ripple effect of heightened food insecurity that will continue over the next several months.

Across the state, hundreds of thousands of households saw their grocery budgets shrink overnight. For families already walking a tightrope, the loss of even one month of benefits meant empty refrigerators, skipped meals, and impossible choices between food, rent, and utilities. For organizations serving children and families, the question wasn’t if the cuts would cause harm—it was how quickly.

When systems fail, we know that community must respond together.

In November, Hephzibah Children’s Association reached out with an urgent challenge. More than 90% of the families in their prevention program rely on SNAP to feed themselves and their children. With benefits suspended and slashed, families were facing food insecurity almost immediately.

As a child welfare and foster care organization, Hephzibah doesn’t operate food-specific programs or distribution systems. But the need was clear, and waiting wasn’t an option.

In a moment that demanded urgency and collaboration, they reached out to Beyond Hunger. Together, we moved into action. 

Leveraging our established food access programs, supplier relationships, and purchasing power, Beyond Hunger was able to provide high-quality groceries quickly and efficiently. In a matter of days, we helped source enough food to support 150 families with a full month of essentials, including:

• Pantry staples
• Protein
• Fresh eggs
• Fruits and vegetables

In total, more than 1,500 pounds of food moved from our facilities to families’ dinner tables—food that would otherwise have been out of reach during an unprecedented time of crisis.

This effort was never about a single organization. It was about alignment, trust, and speed.

Hephzibah mobilized its frontline staff, like case workers who know their families intimately, to pack and personally deliver food directly to homes across the community. Another local organization, the Paramount Group, contributed refrigerated trucks to ensure food was transported safely and quickly.

Beyond Hunger served as a connector: bridging gaps, removing barriers, and ensuring that logistics and policy never stood in the way of families eating.

This is what collaboration looks like when the urgency is real.

Why This Matters

SNAP is the nation’s longest, most effective anti-hunger program. When benefits are delayed and reduced, the ripple effects are felt immediately by children, caregivers, and the organizations working to support them. Food pantries and community partners are often asked to fill gaps they didn’t create and can’t fill alone.

But this moment also revealed something powerful: when organizations lean into their own strengths and work together, we can respond fast and with care.

Beyond Hunger exists for moments like this: not just to distribute food, but to build responsive, community-centered solutions that meet people where they are.

As harmful changes to SNAP continue to strain families across Illinois, Beyond Hunger remains ready to serve by adapting, collaborating, and responding with urgency and intentionality.

Together, with the support of our community, we will continue to step up and ensure that families have access to nourishing food, stability, and support.

With gratitude,

Jennie Hull, CEO