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CHICAGO — Grace Melt made her first visit to the Nourishing Hope food pantry on Chicago's North Side in August. Throughout the pandemic, she used food stamps issued by the federal government to buy groceries while out of work with a knee injury.

But this summer, the food stamps couldn't keep up with the grocery store's rising prices, sending her in search of a food donation for the first time.

"It's definitely not enough. It never lasts 'till the end of the month," she said of the food stamp benefits. "And now they've increased prices ... So now you have to resort to coming here to a food pantry, to fill in."