With uncertainty surrounding payouts of SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown, more Chicago-area restaurants are offering free meals.

Manny’s Deli on the Near West Side has joined that list, offering free family meals to individuals who show their SNAP cards beginning on Monday.

Nearly two million Illinois residents have SNAP benefits, and those payments are in flux due to the ongoing government shutdown. The Trump administration had announced that it would not pay out benefits beginning November 1, but a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the government to utilize a contingency fund intended to continue program payments during a government shutdown.

“There is no doubt that the six billion dollars in contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary t

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