(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — At a time when the need for help is rising, the head of a major area food bank is worried that some federal programs to combat hunger are threatened.

Kate Maehr, director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, says one in five Chicagoans faces food insecurity, and more than one third of Black Chicagoans sometimes go hungry.

She said food programs like SNAP and the Women and Infant Children (WIC) program could face cuts on Capitol Hill. That would mean tens of thousands of mothers and children would be cut off, which Maehr calls “astonishing.”

“We can have different points of view and, frankly, disagreements on a whole host of policy issues, but I can’t imagine how we could possibly think it’s okay for a 6-month-old baby or a 3-year-old toddler to not have food,” she said.

The federal programs have been a first line of defense for many families facing hunger, she said.

Maehr is the guest on this weekend’s edition of “At Issue,” which airs 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

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