Small food assistance nonprofits eligible for new state grant program
[June 12, 2026]
By Jenna Schweikert and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR)
Small volunteer groups that provide food assistance to Illinoisans in
need could be eligible for a new round of grant money under a program
announced this week.
The Charitable Trust Hunger Relief Grant program will provide grants of
up to $5,000 to 10 nonprofit organizations that don’t have full-time
employees to purchase food for those in need. Applications opened June 1
and will remain open through July 31, Illinois Treasurer Michael
Frerichs announced Wednesday.
The announcement comes as food assistance groups experience increased
need due to cuts to federal food assistance, including the Supplemental
Nutritional Assistance Program. Feeding America, the country’s largest
domestic hunger-relief organization, states that for every meal the
organization provides, SNAP provides nine.
“Hunger and food insecurity is a hidden epidemic afflicting children who
cannot ask for help and adults who find it difficult to ask for help as
they juggle two or more jobs,” Frerichs said in a statement June 10.
“Small, local food pantries and soup kitchens are prepared to help these
innocent lives because they see those suffering in the shadows. That is
why we created this desperately needed hunger relief program, as these
organizations try to help people get food as affordability remains a
major concern.”
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Canned goods in a pantry. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)
The hunger relief program is part of a larger charitable trust fund,
created in 2007, that helps small nonprofits with annual budgets of $1
million or less and at least one full-time employee.
The fund is supported by fees paid by larger nonprofit corporations when
they file annual incorporation reports with the Illinois Secretary of
State. This round, however, is open to organizations without full-time
employees who did not previously qualify.
An 11-member committee, made up of appointees from state government
agencies and private citizens, oversees management of the funds and
selects grant recipients.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |
