From the Office of Governor Pat Quinn
Springfield – March 31, 2009. Governor Pat Quinn today announced that Illinois will receive $890 million in federal recovery dollars to increase food stamp benefits for over 600,000 families. In addition, Illinois also expects to receive $11.5 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Illinois has already ordered 3.5 million pounds of food for food banks.
“During the national recession, Illinois families are struggling to put food on the table,” said Governor Quinn. “Increased food benefits and additional funding for food banks will help parents keep their families fed and will help grow our Illinois economy.”
Starting April 1, 2009, Illinois citizens enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will see an increase in their monthly benefits of up to 13.6 percent for five years.
Anyone who would like to apply for the SNAP Program can file an application on-line at or at their local DHS Family Community Resource Center.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program provides federal funds to food banks across Illinois to distribute USDA commodities and privately donated food to over 750 pantries, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens throughout the state. IDHS partners with eight food banks in Illinois to operate the program.
In addition to the $11.5 million for food banks from the federal recovery program, the Governor announced that his Fiscal Year 2010 budget dedicates $1 million for food banks to help serve struggling families in these poor economic times.
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