Every time Mary Jo Credi holds a distribution at the Illinois Valley Food Pantry, she gets new sign-ups. Families with children. Fixed-income seniors. The unemployed.

“There isn’t a food distribution day that goes by that we aren’t signing up new clients,” said Credi, executive director of the pantry in Peru, “and it ranges from five to 10 new clients each time.

“It’s all over the board. It’s affecting everyone. People are really struggling to make it.”

New supplicants have poured in since January, when federal cutbacks and rising costs have strained local families. Last fiscal year, there were 252 new clients, but by the third quarter of the new fiscal year, there were already 205.

It’s about to get worse. Springfield estimates that 150,000 Illinoisans are at risk of losing food assistance beginning next Friday, May 1. Though SNAP benefits in no way affect a client’s eligibility for assistance from a local food pantry, Credi said, she’s concerned the lost benefits will increase new applicants and add to the strain on local services.

Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release that the Trump administration is preparing to cut food assistance for Illinoisans who rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Pritzker encouraged all recipients to use the state’s screener tool to confirm if their benefits are at risk.

“For 60 years, Americans across the country have relied on federal food assistance to prevent them from going hungry,” Pritzker said. “Now, as the cost of groceries, gas and utilities are all rising, Donald Trump is ripping away food assistance from Illinoisans.”

Specifically, Pritzker said the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans “dramatically expanded” the number of people considered Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents and therefore required to meet work requirements, which could, in turn, mean reduced or lost SNAP benefits starting May 1.

Illinoisans who rely on SNAP are urged to check their status online using the state’s screener and look at available resources at SNAPWorkRequirements.illinois.gov.

For local food pantries, the cutbacks could scarcely have come at a worse time. Demand had been ramping up, anyway, and the food pantries anticipate increased demand in late May when schoolchildren are dismissed for summer vacation. With no free and subsidized school lunches, families have to dig deeper to feed their kids.

The Streatorland Food Pantry was ready for summer demand. Tony Bitto, a board member, said the pantry in Streator is “not in bad shape” with respect to supply, but that presumes demand stays stable.

“We had a been influx before Christmas, it’s gone down, but now it’s going to go back up again if this [SNAP reduction] comes to fruition.”

(Bitto encouraged local donors to give generously at the next food drive on May 9 at the Streator Post Office.)

The Hall Township Food Pantry in Spring Valley is likewise expecting a surge as the SNAP reduction takes effect, followed closely by the spike in summer demand, as 46% of the households served rely on SNAP.

“The reduction in SNAP benefits will likely increase demand at our local food pantries, especially with summer approaching and children losing access to school meals,” executive director Jan Martin said. “Because we saw this coming, our pantry has been stockpiling boxes of cereal and kid-friendly foods in anticipation of the need.”

Anyone worried their SNAP benefits might be cut should, besides accessing the screening tool, obtain information on work requirements, exemptions and resources at SnapWorkRequirements.Illinois.gov. A general benefits Page: Abe.Illinois.gov.