Food bank urges transfer of $330,000 in ARPA funds as SNAP changes threaten benefits

Hester Berry, a development representative for Northern Illinois Food Bank, told the McHenry County Finance & Audit Committee that roughly one in 10 residents — and one in 11 children — in the county are food insecure and that the food bank has been a major distributor in the region.

Berry and Emily Frost, the food bank’s advocacy specialist, described ARPA funds the county awarded that have supported both bulk food purchases and a home‑delivery program. Frost said the food bank has spent $571,000 of the ARPA allocation in McHenry County to acquire nearly 800,000 pounds of food for member agencies and that the home‑delivery component doubled capacity for neighbors with transportation or health barriers.

Frost told the committee the federal SNAP work‑requirement changes that resumed Feb. 1 put roughly 2,276 McHenry County recipients at risk of losing benefits beginning in May if they do not meet the 80‑hours‑per‑month work rule. She estimated an average SNAP benefit of $193 per household and said that would translate to about $439,268 less flowing into local grocery and farm spending if benefits are lost.

Berry said the food bank wants to ensure the full ARPA grant is spent and asked the county to allow transferring $330,000 from the home‑delivery bucket into the food grant so the food bank can purchase more food for pantries and reach more households before ARPA funding ends in October. She said the move is not because demand for home delivery has fallen but because administrative limits and pantry capacities constrain that program’s growth.

Jamie, a United Way representative who partners on the home‑delivery effort, described an operational shift in Harvard that moved online ordering and pickup from a daycare to a high school and church pickup site in partnership with Family Health Partnership Clinic, and underscored the importance of refrigeration and delivery logistics for sustaining service.

Committee members asked whether the food bank’s 211,000‑figure represented unique people or visits; Frost said the number reported is pantry visits and that the food bank can provide unique‑visitor counts on request. She also offered county‑level data and said about half of pantry visitors use services only one to three times a year while roughly 25% use services monthly.

The committee did not take an immediate vote on the request during the presentation; staff said they would follow up with details and a formal resolution if members wanted to authorize the reallocation. The committee was told the food bank expects any remaining home‑delivery funds to be spent by October so it can complete ARPA reporting in November.