Debit cards in the mail to food-insecure families throughout Illinois

(The Center Square) – Thanks to federal money for COVID-19 relief, families of one million children in Illinois will be getting debit cards worth several hundred dollars in the mail this month to help them buy food.

Sophie Milam, senior director of public policy for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, said that the debit cards, which are now in the mail, will be a surprise to most people. There is a risk that some people will throw the unmarked envelopes with the debit cards in them away.

There was no application process for the program. The debit cards are being mailed automatically to any school child who is part of Illinois’ free and reduced lunch program.

“Families can use the debit cards at any grocery store or retail store that takes LINK,” Milam said. “Families can choose whatever groceries they want that makes sense for their family.”

As Milam and her colleagues at the Food Depository see it, the pandemic has created a hunger crisis in Illinois. Because of COVID-19, the number of families with children who are food insecure has tripled.

Before the pandemic, 13% of Illinois children lived in homes where there was not enough food. Since COVID-19 hit, food pantries have seen a 44% increase in need, with many new families coming in for food.

“We are seeing families that had been getting by before the pandemic. Then they lost their jobs or had their hours at work reduced. COVID has made hunger an even bigger problem than it had been before,” Milam said.

Being food insecure means that families are reducing the quantity of food that they have at home or they are buying cheaper food that is not as nutritious. Some families skip meals or reduce portion sizes. Before the pandemic shut the schools, many low-income families relied on schools to feed lunch, and in some cases, breakfast to their children. When schools closed, more children than ever have been going hungry.

The amount of money loaded in the debit cards is based on the cost of meals that children would have received at school under the free and reduced lunch program. The benefits are retroactive. The cards mailed this month will cover meals missed since last summer, when school began.

Milam said that parents who do not have a permanent address should check with their child’s school to make sure that they receive their debit cards. Parents can arrange to pick their debit cards up at the schools.

For information on the new debit program, or to volunteer to help Illinois food banks get food to hungry people, visit the website Greater Chicago Food Depository.

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