With uncertainty in federal SNAP benefits, McHenry County food pantries are experiencing more demand – but also more people donating and expressing an interest in giving.

With benefits set to end Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown, a judge ruled Friday that SNAP funding must continue. But some recipients were expected to experience a delay in getting benefits. On Monday, the Trump administration said the benefits would be partially funded following the judge’s ruling.

[ See more photos of donors, volunteers and clients from a busy afternoon at the Woodstock Food Pantry ]

And while food pantries have been preparing for an uptick in demand, not everyone who gets food from them is on SNAP.

Mary Eckel picked up a couple bags of food Friday at the Woodstock Food Pantry, though she said could have left with more. Eckel said she’s been coming to the pantry for several years and has been on disability at times, while at other times she’s been able to work.

She said she gets about $27 in SNAP benefits per month and was “not going to be hurt that much” by the now-averted cutoff of benefits. But she said families will be hit the hardest.

“More people are going to be needing” places like the food pantry, Eckel said.

She praised Woodstock’s pantry and its offerings, saying, “These guys get a lot of great stuff.”

She was one of several Woodstock Food Pantry clients Friday who said they received SNAP benefits.

Susie McClendon said she’s been going to the food pantry about once a month. She said she receives SNAP and that a lot of people, including kids and single mothers, need the help, adding “our voices should count.”

But McClendon, speaking before the judge’s ruling Friday, said she was not concerned about the potential loss of SNAP benefits, saying she trusted in God and that the situation would get resolved.

Woodstock Food Pantry Board President Bruce Thacker said the pantry has three distributions weekly, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The pantry is doing everything it can to be able to serve everyone.

“We will continue to do that,” Thacker said, adding he anticipates they should be able to service everyone who comes to the pantry. “Right now, we’re doing OK.”

The pantry has been seeing more donations, Thacker said. Donors include local grocers like Aldi, Jewel and the Food Shed. The stores “take care of us,” Thacker said.

During a distribution Friday, the pantry received donations that included over 1,000 pounds from the Villas at Bull Valley subdivision from its annual Halloween food drive.

Several of the residents who helped to organize the food drive, some dressed in Halloween costumes, brought the donations to the pantry Friday afternoon. Organizers said they had very generous neighbors, who gave food and financial contributions, allowing them to buy hundreds of dollars’ worth of food.

Karen Evenson, who sits on the subdivision’s homeowners association board and was among the organizers of the food drive, said the potential increased need for help “really scares me.”

Tammy Gould, another resident who helped to organize the food drive, said she was “happy to do it each year.”

Mike Phillips brought several boxes of Factor meals from the Crystal Lake Food Pantry to Woodstock Friday. Phillips said he volunteers with the Crystal Lake Food Pantry and, when it gets extra deliveries from the food bank, he brings the surplus to Woodstock.

Crystal Lake is “very, very helpful in keeping this pantry well-stocked,” he said.

The Woodstock pantry served 60 households Friday, a number pantry volunteers said was an all-time high.

Other pantries in the area, including the Wonder Lake Neighbors Food Pantry, have seen an uptick in demand.

During a distribution Wednesday, 128 families came through, compared to the 75 to 100 families, director Kim Halper said.

Halper said the pantry has “been trying to stock up as much as we can,” but “it’s been really hard.”

People are generous during the holidays, usually between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but people stepped up when it appeared SNAP benefits were going to be cut off, Halper said.

Halper said the pantry can always use staples like canned soups, tuna, peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese and Hamburger Helper. Monetary donations go a lot further because they can purchase food from the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

Cary-Grove Food Pantry director Melody Stanko said Friday the pantry had been seeing both an uptick in demand and in donations.

People have been asking the pantry about hosting food drives. Stanko said a veterinarian called inquired about doing a food drive; a pet food drive was suggested instead.

Gift cards to local grocers are helpful, Stanko said. The pantry likes to give out dairy and fresh veggies, but the gift cards can help control the distribution of those items and help balance the shelves.

Stanko also said that donations typically go up during the holidays, but this year, the increase has been earlier. She said she expects demand will go down once the funding situation is resolved but, “in the meantime, we’re here to help.”