Local food banks brace for influx of visitors as new SNAP requirements begin Friday

JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) -- Come Friday, if you do not meet new requirements, you will only be able to get SNAP benefits for three months over a three-year period.

This come as food banks, like one in Joliet, are preparing for an influx of tens of thousands of people in need. Some volunteers will be in need themselves.

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"Let them better themselves, but don't take away the only thing that they can do, is provide food for their children," said Mindy Stone, who uses SNAP.

Health issues in her family led Stone to start using SNAP benefits, which, by the end of the week, will now require at least 20 hours of working or volunteering a week in order to get.

"This whole thing is going to create more anxiety and desperateness in the society to find food, to get a job anything," Stone said.

The Trump administration's Big Beautiful Bill also changed the age requirements of SNAP, extending the age to 64 but also lowering the age of dependents to 14. Those like Stone, who has a 15-year-old son, are at risk for losing her benefits if they do not meet the 20-hour requirements.

"It is not my child's responsibility to watch what he eats," Stone said.

"We're expecting anywhere from like 21 or 25 to 41,000, people getting kicked off of SNAP," said Northern Illinois Food Bank Chief Impact Officer Jen Lamplough.

Exemptions for benefits can include things like mental or physical condition, if you are pregnant, or if you care for an incapacitated person. But when life changes quickly, so can the assistance.

"One little problem, a health issue, loss of a job, whatever, puts you in a totally different position," Stone said.

"While we're doing as much as we can to be able to meet the need, we can't. You can't replace SNAP, can't buy your way out of SNAP," Lamplough said.

SNAP beneficiary-turned volunteer-turned staffer Steven Harold knows the value of giving back as they call for help.

"I tell everybody that working at a volunteering at a food pantry or at the food bank changes lives, and then, I'm living proof," Harold said.

On May 9, the Northern Illinois Food Bank is hosting a pop-up market, giving out groceries. They expect anywhere between 800 and 1,600 families to come.