Economy producing more needy families

from The Southern

BY KARTIKAY MEHROTRA, THE SOUTHERN SPRINGFIELD BUREAU

A struggling Illinois economy has made a record number of Illinois families food stamp eligible and forced even more new and single mothers to seek federal assistance for money to put food on the table.

Food stamps have reached a record 592,390 households this year, a 3.7 percent increase over last year totaling 1.3 million people. Since December, Women, Infant and Children services participants have risen by 11,520.

''As gas, food and energy costs rise, we are seeing an increasing number of working families turn to pantries for assistance,'' said Carol Adams, secretary for the Illinois Department of Human Services, in a statement Thursday.

The money for stocking these food pantries is coming from an influx in federal tax dollars directed at these programs.

''It's all federal money, the more that sign-up the better,'' said IDHS spokesman Tom Green.

To be eligible for the Illinois food stamp program, income for a family of four cannot exceed $2,238 a month. The maximum benefit is $542 for a family of four. The average food stamp benefit in Illinois is $241 a month per household, according to IDHS.

WIC currenlty helps about 296,000 of Illinois'pregnant women, new mothers and young children meet their basic nutritional needs. Low to medium income women can receive these services if they are pregnant, breastfeeding or just had a baby or if their infants and children are under 5 years old.