(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – FRESH has come to the rescue for people who no longer have SNAP.

The Trump administration is discontinuing the food stamp program for people who do not complete work requirements outlined by “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday the $70 million Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger (FRESH) program, which will distribute a one-time payment of $400 Saturday to about 100,000 Illinoisans. The program is part of the state budget.

About the work requirements, Nolan Downey of the Greater Chicago Food Depository is the spokesman for the Save Our SNAP Coalition, and said, “What I’ve never understood is how starving somebody helps them get a job.” He said he does want people to get jobs, but also that there is “no moral or data-driven case” that the work requirements do what they are meant to do. “These are not effective in actually promoting employment.” Besides, Downey adds, everybody needs to eat, regardless of their circumstances.

Downey says the need has been growing. “In the emergency food system, we are pushing out about sixty percent more food than we were before the pandemic.”