Portia Rogers, 31, is grateful that her 8-year-old daughter, Isis, likes eating fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, these healthy options are expensive. While a medical condition prevents Rogers from working, she does her best to provide for her daughter on her disability benefits.
For most of the year, Isis receives free breakfast and lunch at school. “I’m happy she can focus on her schoolwork and not her growling stomach,” Rogers said.
But when classes end and summer begins, Rogers, along with thousands of other parents across Chicago and Cook County, faces the challenge of providing two additional meals per child each day compared to during the school year.
Portia's daughter, Isis, loves the meal she received at the Chicago Heights Public Library. (Photo by Faayani Mijana for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.)
For many families, this burden can be significant. Food insecurity levels in Chicago are as high as they were during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and families are still recovering from the effects of inflation, elevated food prices, high housing costs and the rollback of crucial pandemic-relief programs, making it difficult to afford even basic expenses such as food.
Devastating impacts
As a result of families’ struggle to afford food, many children endure a summer nutrition deficit, which can have a devastating impact on young, growing bodies. Many students who don’t get enough food also experience a “summer slide” in their educational level, often returning to school up to two months behind in reading.
An Erie Elementary Charter School student enjoys a healthy meal. (Photo by Nancy Stone for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.)
This is the reality for many families in Chicago, where 21 percent of households with children are food insecure. Approximately 40 percent of families with children in Chicago receive SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, indicating both the need and the importance of food assistance programs among families in the city.
In response to the need, the federal government passed Summer EBT in 2023, and 37 states have worked to implement the program this year. Summer EBT (electronic benefits transfer) will provide families with school-aged children an electronic benefits transfer card to purchase groceries during the months when school is out.
This summer, qualifying families with children will receive a one-time benefit of $120 per child. To qualify, a family’s household income must be at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level.
Working toward a healthy future
Summer EBT is projected to make a significant impact on children’s nutrition this summer, alleviating food insecurity among children and their families, providing much-needed relief for parents and creating positive economic impacts. By giving families an EBT card to spend at grocery stores, the program will help generate an estimated $247 million in economic activity in Illinois.
Alex and Samson eat breakfast at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club summer camp. (Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis for the Food Depository.)
The Food Depository has led a statewide awareness campaign for Summer EBT as part of our role as cochair of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger. We have worked with the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Human Services to mobilize community organizations across the state to reach out to families.
We created a new website, www.wegotyouillinois.org, for families to learn all about Summer EBT and how to get connected, as well as a toolkit of outreach materials (poster, flyers, social media messages and graphics, FAQs) available in multiple languages including Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Polish, and Urdu.
A group of students eat a meal at the Barreto Union League Boys and Girls Club. (Photo by Nancy Stone for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.)
The Food Depository is excited to help raise awareness about Summer EBT, which will help ensure that all Illinois children remain nourished and active during the summer, ready to resume learning when classes begin in the fall.
The road to Summer EBT
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) first tested a summer grocery benefit for families who were eligible for free or reduced lunch in 2011, exploring different benefit amounts and implementation methods.
The results were overwhelmingly positive. Among participating families, kids’ consumption of whole grains, dairy, fruits and vegetables increased, and the pilot program was found to decrease the number of children experiencing very low food insecurity by one third, proving that grocery benefits are effective in reducing food insecurity.
Two friends drink chocolate milk at the Kelly Hall YMCA in Humboldt Park. (Photo by Alyssa Schukar for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.)
Anti-hunger advocates throughout the country, including those at the Food Depository, have urged legislators to expand the pilot program for years. After over a decade of advocacy, in December 2022, policymakers in Washington, D.C. enacted legislation to make Summer EBT a permanent program. Illinois was among the first states to commit to offering the program in summer 2024.
Chicago mom Rogers is grateful for the extra support this summer. “It will help me keep up Isis’ good eating habits,” she said, acknowledging that the program will help set her daughter up for a healthy future.
Visit www.wegotyouillinois.org for additional information about Summer EBT.
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