Free Republic

OAK PARK, Ill. (AP) — Kate Maehr has never seen anything like it: lines stretching for blocks as people, many with children, inch forward to get boxes of food they hope will last until the next giveaway, until the next paycheck or until they can get government food assistance. “It’s just heartbreaking,” said Maehr, executive director of the . “They’re finding themselves in a set of circumstances where they have no income and they also have no food, and it happened in an instant.” The number of people seeking help from her organization and affiliated food pantries has surged...