(WTTW News)

The program pushes $250 million in funds to the state’s hardest hit communities. Designed to interrupt and prevent gun violence, it’s a three-year investment that started at the end of 2021.

Yolanda Fields, chief program officer of Breakthrough, appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. (WTTW News)

Breakthrough Fresh Market food pantry in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood usually provides groceries to about 70 people a day, three times a week. But in recent weeks, the pantry has seen its numbers spike at least 25%.