The head of Brookfield’s Share Food Share Love food pantry said federal slashes to food assistance funding, and cuts to Medicaid and food stamps included in the Trump administration’s just-approved One Big Beautiful Bill Act, could have disastrous consequences at the local level.
“It’s going to impact us one way or another. If the Greater Chicago Food Depository gets hit badly, obviously that’s going to limit what they can do to provide food to us, so we’re going to have to resource that from the public, either through donations of cash or food,” said John Dumas, the pantry’s administrative director.
He told the Landmark Share Food Share Love receives about 75% of the food it gives out from the depository, which distributes food to pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and more across Chicagoland to combat hunger.
In turn, the depository obtained about 28% of its food last year from government sources, including the United States Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). In March, the USDA paused about half of TEFAP’s funding, reducing the money available to food providers nationwide by $500 million.
If the depository is unable to get that proportion of food without TEFAP funding, Share Food Share Love could receive up to 21% less food or have to find ways to get that food elsewhere as the effects of the cuts ripple down the supply chain.
But beyond the cuts to TEFAP, Dumas said the new federal cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which would make it harder for people to qualify for the programs, could mean more neighbors find themselves turning to the food pantry so they can eat.
“If Medicaid and SNAP get cut, more people are going to need more help, and even the people that get it now are going to need even more help. That’s a part of those folks’ budgets,” he said. “We find 75% to 80% of the people that come to our pantry work, so this is not a question of, they’re in need because they’re not getting any income. They just don’t get enough to be able to afford all the things they need, plus food. We help them out with the food, and then they can use their money for rent and utilities.”
Dumas said the depository has informed the food pantry they could see an increase of up to 50% in the number of people seeking assistance now that the bill has been signed into law by President Donald Trump.
Share Food Share Love serves about 600 people each month, Dumas said, which could become 900 people. But “through no fault of their own,” he said of the depository, “we should not be expecting more food coming from them.”
He said pantry officials have heard the Trump administration could even come after the tax-exempt status of nonprofits like Share Food Share Love if they refuse to turn away people in need who have immigrated illegally.
“If you, as the government, don’t want to help people, that’s your choice. I personally don’t agree with that, but fine. But don’t get me both ways. Don’t put it on me to take care of people and then make it harder for me to do that. That’s a nasty way to do things,” he said. “I can’t tell you absolutely, but at this point, right now, we would have no intention of honoring that. We would make do without [tax-exempt status].”
For community members who feel inspired to help, Dumas said monetary donations, rather than giving food or time, will be the biggest boon.
“I don’t want to minimize what [volunteers] do, but, certainly, the pressure on us is going to be related to the food and to what we’re able to give out,” he said. “Almost everything we get, no matter what source we get it from, we’re paying, in a lot of cases, less than wholesale value. We get the food very cheaply, so, even if [donors] can only afford a couple of dollars, we’ll put it to good use.”
Even a donation of $2 or $3 could go a long way, he said, as beneficiaries of SNAP only receive about $6 per day from the program.
Despite the setbacks facing the food pantry, Dumas said Share Food Share Love will stay steadfast in its mission.
“We have every plan of being there and giving out food, just like we always have, hopefully in the same quantities,” he said. “It’s going to make our jobs more difficult, but we’re very confident, and we’re very determined, to make sure that our neighbors don’t suffer as a result of these decisions that they have no hand in.”
