ELMHURST, Ill. (WGN) — The Elmhurst-Yorkfield Food Pantry has been serving the community for 40 years and, aside from the pandemic, leaders say they have never seen demand this high.
The pantry is feeling the pinch, and the pressure is growing.
“If you’ll remember with COVID, the toilet paper stock piling, that is really what it feels like now and actually, I think a little beyond that. It’s very stressful. The parents are stressed, our seniors are stressed,” said Kathy Watts, the pantry’s executive director.
As federal SNAP benefits lapsed over the weekend for 42 million Americans, many families are turning to food pantries like Elmhurst-Yorkfield for help.
“There have been people who have come here for the first time, but also I notice we are getting people coming to the pantry who have not been here for years,” said Matt Parker Wrzeszcz, pastor at Yorkfield Presbyterian Church. “People who needed assistance at one time are now coming back because it’s getting so tight.”
The nation is now on day 35 of the government shutdown, and partisan tensions continue to escalate.
“What Trump and the Republicans have done to this country, they have gone way too far, and the American people know it,” said U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), the House minority leader.
“Right now, the Democrats fear political retribution from the far-left activists in their party more than they fear the consequences of keeping the government closed for weeks on end,” countered U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), the speaker of the House.
A federal judge directed the Trump administration late last month to use available emergency funds to keep SNAP benefits going.
The administration said it would send out reduced SNAP benefits while noting the process to recalculate could result in significant delays.
Confusion grew Tuesday when President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
Later, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was complying with the court order and working to get partial SNAP payments out as quickly as possible.
While political battles play out in Washington, local food pantry volunteers are focused on keeping up with the demand. Watts says even the food wholesalers they rely on are facing shortages.
“It does not appear that there is an end in sight so that is going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on the food bank system and all of the pantries,” Watts said.
Canned and boxed goods, along with personal care items, are especially needed. Donations can be dropped off at the Elmhurst-Yorkfield Food Pantry, located at 1083 South York St.
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