Latest news with #Bonar
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Local food pantries brace for SNAP benefit cuts
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Millions of Americans may soon lose food assistance program benefits as the reconciliation bill moves through Congress, while local food pantries are already seeing a lot of new faces. The reconciliation bill proposed $300 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food benefits to low-income families. 'When there are things on the chopping block and funds are getting cut, we see an increase in demand in people that we have never seen before or are not the regulars,' said Julie Bonar, president and CEO of Neighborhood House in Peoria. Bonar said the demand at their bimonthly food pantry has doubled in recent weeks. She said seniors and people with disabilities will be hurt most by the cuts. 'Oftentimes, we'll see individuals who have never been to a food pantry before because it really is not something they've had to utilize. But with losing those benefits, they still have to feed themselves or their families,' she said. 'The first time someone ever comes to a food pantry, it often can be very overwhelming because they're not used to having to come and ask for assistance.' Nearly one in four people in Peoria County (23% of the population) depend on SNAP benefits. That's higher than the state average of 16%, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services. The reconciliation bill increases the SNAP work requirement age from 54 to 64 for able-bodied people with kids. It also shifts the direct cost of food benefits to the states. That means Illinois will have to pick up the tab for everyone who remains in the program. 'I think that there's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unknown and a lot of fear. And that is, I think, how all of us are feeling right now with all of the different changes that are happening so rapid fire and changing constantly,' said Bonar. Neighborhood House relies on Midwest Food Bank and private donations to stock its pantry shelves. If you'd like to help, click here. The pantry is the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month from 10 a.m. to noon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘They'll kill us': Afghan immigrant told to self-deport, lawyer says he entered US legally
A man who came to the United States after fighting alongside its soldiers in Afghanistan said he received an email telling him to self-deport. He was in the Afghan army and helped U.S. troops before the war in Afghanistan ended in 2021. He said he was promised shelter and a life in the U.S. 'If I want to go to Afghanistan, they'll kill us. Me, my family, and children,' he said. Channel 9's Tina Terry spoke with him. For his safety, Channel 9 has chosen not to share his name. READ: ICE, partner agencies arrest 24 people in Charlotte operation He said he is one of thousands who received the email from Homeland Security. He said it gave him seven days to leave the country. But he said returning to Afghanistan would be a death sentence. 'How can I go? Where can I go?' he said. 'That's a big problem for us.' The letter says, 'It is time for you to leave the United States.' And that if he doesn't leave now, he will be 'subject to potential law enforcement actions.' He is one of the thousands who rushed to the airport in August 2021 to get on a U.S. plane. But the chaos in the Kabul airport left him and his family stranded. READ: 'All that's left is to wait': Trump's immigration policy changes spark concern in Charlotte He said he, his wife, and their three children had been living on the run. They kept up hope until they secured passage into Iran. And then Brazil. Until he made it to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2024. His family used a program called the CBP One to get into the U.S. The program was introduced in 2020 to allow immigrants to begin the asylum process as they arrive at the border. President Donald Trump canceled the program earlier in 2025. The first cancellation notices were sent in March. Immigration Attorney Ursula Bonar told Terry that she told the immigrant to stay in the country, despite the letter. 'He's a legal immigrant. He entered the U.S. legally,' she said. 'He was given permission to be here and he was well within the time frame that his permissions were given. So I told him, 'Do not leave. Go to work.'' READ: 'Share the culture': Local business owner shares concerns over tariff impacts Bonar said the immigrant has already begun seeking permanent asylum through the courts. And she said she thinks it will be granted. 'That's why the courts are here, that's why this is the United States, we can rely on our courts,' Bonar said. She said she thinks the email targeted those who used the CBP One program. Channel 9 reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about the email and has yet to hear back. But in a press release earlier in 2025, department director Kristi Noem said, 'The Biden Administration exploited the CBP One app to allow more than 1 million aliens to illegally enter the United States.' WATCH: 'All that's left is to wait': Trump's immigration policy changes spark concern in Charlotte
Business Journals
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Oat Haus now selling granola butter in Costco
From the Cleveland Business Journal. Ali Bonar and her colleagues at Oat Haus used to buy the ingredients for their granola butters at Costco. Now, they are selling their products at Costco. The food manufacturer debuted its cookie dough granola butter (yes, the butter is made from granola) in an extra-large 27-oz. jar at more than 100 Costco stores in Midwestern states, including Ohio, last week. "Costco is pretty savage," Bonar told the Cleveland Business Journal. "It's very make-or-break. They'll test you for 12 weeks — they call it a 'rotation' — and especially the first few weeks are the most important. So if we do well in this Midwest region, then they'll start to expand us to other regions." The Oat Haus entrepreneurs — comprising Bonar, her husband, Eric Katz, and Eric's childhood friend, Ari Schraer — doubled their output to make enough product for the Costco stores. "We started running a night shift, and Ari started managing that," Bonar said. "We still make everything from scratch," including toasting and grinding the granola used to make butters in several flavors, such as brownie batter, cinnamon roll and wild berry, she said. "We also fulfill ... all of our e-commerce online orders in-house." Sign up for Bizwomen's free daily newsletter for news about businesswomen across the country and business intelligence to help you grow your business, advance your career and simplify your professional life. The brand was born in 2018 out of Bonar's nutrition study at the University of California at Berkley and her eating disorders. While recovering, she added nut butters to her diet but found them hard to digest, so she started experimenting with oats. Bonar pitched the granola butters to Shark Tank investors in 2021, but her company didn't get an investment. Last year, Bonar received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the East Central region. Why Oat Haus moved to Cleveland Bonar, Katz and Schraer moved their California-born food company first to the Philadelphia area and then to Cleveland in 2023 in search of a facility where they could make their granola butters. "There's just really not a lot of manufacturing facilities that are food-grade in the U.S.," Bonar said. "It's kind of finding a needle in a haystack, especially for exactly what we needed. "We bake all of our granola from scratch, so we needed a lot of ventilation, and then we blend that up into our spreads," she said. "It's very high-powered blending machine, so ... we needed a lot of electrical power too." Bonar and her colleagues chose Cleveland over places such as St. Louis, Missouri, and Fort Worth, Texas. "We visited both of those and just didn't really enjoy the surrounding areas," Bonar said. "And then we came to Cleveland and the facility was perfect." Oat Haus moved into 44,000 square feet of space formerly occupied by American Nut in September 2023. "The company [that] was in here before us put about $2 million into this facility," she said. "So it's really state-of-the-art, just beautiful." Bonar called the city itself "amazing. We're in our early thirties and just wanted a fresh, young-feeling city, and a lot of those facilities are kind of in the middle of nowhere. So, yeah, this was just a good blend of the two."
Business Journals
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
How Oat Haus is finding success, with its granola butter now on Costco shelves
From the Cleveland Business Journal. Ali Bonar and her colleagues at Oat Haus used to buy the ingredients for their granola butters at Costco. Now, they are selling their products at Costco. The food manufacturer debuted its cookie dough granola butter (yes, the butter is made from granola) in an extra-large 27-oz. jar at more than 100 Costco stores in Midwestern states, including Ohio, last week. "Costco is pretty savage," Bonar told the Cleveland Business Journal. "It's very make-or-break. They'll test you for 12 weeks — they call it a 'rotation' — and especially the first few weeks are the most important. So if we do well in this Midwest region, then they'll start to expand us to other regions." The Oat Haus entrepreneurs — comprising Bonar, her husband, Eric Katz, and Eric's childhood friend, Ari Schraer — doubled their output to make enough product for the Costco stores. "We started running a night shift, and Ari started managing that," Bonar said. "We still make everything from scratch," including toasting and grinding the granola used to make butters in several flavors, such as brownie batter, cinnamon roll and wild berry, she said. "We also fulfill ... all of our e-commerce online orders in-house." Sign up for Bizwomen's free daily newsletter for news about businesswomen across the country and business intelligence to help you grow your business, advance your career and simplify your professional life. The brand was born in 2018 out of Bonar's nutrition study at the University of California at Berkley and her eating disorders. While recovering, she added nut butters to her diet but found them hard to digest, so she started experimenting with oats.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WMBD news anchors pack meals for homebound seniors
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Three WMBD anchors and other community leaders spent Wednesday morning giving back to the community by boxing up meals for homebound seniors. The goal of Community of Champions Week at Neighborhood House in Peoria is to raise awareness about the importance of senior nutrition through Meals on Wheels. 'Oftentimes we hear that are our senior neighbors, due to just age, frailty, different conditions, it may make preparing a meal difficult, but they want to be able to stay in their home. If they weren't provided with that meal, they could end up malnourished, dehydrated and in the hospital,' explained Julie Bonar, president and CEO of Neighborhood House. Every day, Bonar said Neighborhood House delivers between 800 and 900 meals across Peoria County and Tazewell County. Each meal includes three ounces of protein, a cup of vegetables, half cup of fruit, a roll and milk. 'Oftentimes when individuals come to our program, it can be after a hospitalization due to malnutrition or dehydration. And so we're providing one-third of their daily caloric needs through the hot meal that is delivered. And then if they qualify, some of our clients also receive a frozen meal that they can have later in the day,' she said. And while food is important, the deliveries also provide something less tangible: human companionship and comfort. 'We always say that it's more than just the meal and it's that daily interaction. It's the same driver delivering each day. So they get to know the people that they're delivering to and the people that are getting the meal look forward to that daily visit from their driver. Oftentimes it's the only person that they see,' said Bonar. According to the National Institutes of Health, about one in four Americans aged 65 and older are considered socially isolated, and 43% of adults aged 60 and older report feeling lonely. 'Being socially isolated, being lonely is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So we really like to shed light on that, that it really truly is more than just a meal that we're delivering,' said Bonar. Neighborhood House also offers 'Critters Meals on Wheels' for seniors with companion animals. The program started 20 years ago after they found out clients were sharing meals with their pets. 'We know how important that companionship of a pet is for our seniors. There are many medical benefits to that, including lower blood pressure, less stress, and it also requires the senior to get up and care for something else. So is keeping them active,' said Bonar. Neighborhood House proudly doesn't have a waitlist for Meals on Wheels. However, they are in need of more volunteers. 'We need people who can come in and who can help take packs of hamburger buns, hot dog buns, tortillas and put them into single serving packages. We have fruit that needs to be portioned into individual, single-serving-size cups. So there's lots of opportunities for people to volunteer that way,' said Bonar. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
