Written on a simple paper plate, the message was short and to the point: "I need to eat."

Others were longer, detailing a family's desperate circumstances.

"I have 5 kids and we've had some tough times lately. There have been times that I would go without so my kids would have food to eat. Now I can join my family at meals and not worry about not having enough to eat," wrote Jen Schiaretti, praising the Mahomet Helping Hands food pantry.

The paper-plate messages were among 534 delivered Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson's office in Champaign by the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, part of a national campaign during Hunger Action Month to protect food stamps and other federal nutrition programs from budget cuts.

They were written by clients of food pantries, soup kitchens and other agencies served by the food bank, in Champaign-Urbana, Mahomet, Rantoul, Mattoon, Potomac and as far away as Clay County. About 1,200 plates were distributed to 16 agencies.

The food bank provided "prompt" questions, such as, "How would you be affected if the food pantry wasn't there?" or "How would you be affected if there weren't food-stamp benefits?"

One answered simply: "We would starve."

Donna Camp, director of the Wesley Evening Food Pantry, said she simply announced to folks lined up for the monthly food distribution in September that the plates were available, if they had anything they wanted legislators to know.

"The paper plates that the food bank had sent us were gone in minutes. We had to go find more," she said, estimating that more than 50 people filled them out.

Food bank Director of Development Cheryl Precious said she expected to get 100 back, not 500-plus.

"I think people really want their voices heard," she said. "They want legislators to know what their lives are like. "

The national campaign was organized by Feeding America to emphasize the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, commonly called food stamps, and other programs.

The fear is the programs could be cut or scaled back during deficit-reduction talks and negotiations for a new farm bill, which funds many of the nutrition programs.

Johnson chairs the House agriculture committee's subcommittee on rural development, and he's sensitive to how budget cuts will affect rural areas and smaller communities, said spokesman Phil Bloomer, who met with the group Wednesday.

"Generally he's in favor of preserving those safety nets for those least able to help themselves," Bloomer said.

But as Congress searches for ways to slash the deficit, "everything will be on the table," Bloomer said, from nutrition programs to direct payments to farmers.

The plates included "many very touching stories, but we're living in tough times," he said. "All these things are vulnerable."

As a high-ranking Republican on the agriculture committee, Johnson can influence the farm bill, Precious said.

"We're talking about one in six in eastern Illinois who struggles with hunger," she said.

One story captured her attention: the woman who wrote "I need to eat" had to ask for help to spell "need" and "eat."

"How are we to expect this person to get a job, much less fill out an application for a job or to get SNAP benefits if they are borderline illiterate?" Precious asked.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin of Illinois quoted from one of the stories, a single mom who is going back to college, in a speech on the Senate floor last week as he testified in support of hunger programs.

"I am a full time student, a single mother, and having grown up in a poor, uneducated hom (sic) without any kind of these services, I know about hunger! I am working toward self-sustainability so I can be a living example for my 4-year-old daughter. I receive WIC, SNAP and housing assistance. Without these benefits I would not be able to finish college to provide a better life for my family. Without these benefits I would be stuck working 80 hour weeks in a minimum wage job, still unable to provide for my family, and never being able to see my child. By taking these services away, you will be contributing to illiteracy, increased poverty and hunger."