Food Help Expanded for Kids Shut Out of School by Pandemic

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — As many as 1 million Illinois schoolchildren will get more nutritious meals after state officials received an expansion of a federally subsidized pandemic-relief program, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday.

Illinois is one of 16 states that sought additional assistance from the U.S. Agriculture Department's program. In a news conference at Washington Middle School, Pritzker said the state will more than double the benefits it had been receiving and reach an additional 200,000 children.

The program helps feed families with children who cannot regularly attend school, where they receive free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches, because schools are closed to prevent spread of the coronavirus.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2021-02-23/food-help-expanded-for-kids-shut-out-of-school-by-pandemic