Pandemic Food Stamp Program aimed at children in Florida was approved

DORAL, FL – One-time Pandemic Food Stamp Program aimed at helping an estimated of 2.7 million children in Florida was approved. 

Through this program, that will distribute more than $1 billion, families with children in poverty will receive an additional $375 in benefits over a 30-day period beginning on November 15.

Children under age 6 who went to child care and whose families were already enrolled in SNAP, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, can apply as well for this benefit. They may receive it first, reports Orlando Sentinel. 

The beneficiaries will get the money electronically and they can use it for food at grocery stores, selected online grocers and farmer’s markets.

The Pandemic Food Stamp Program was issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in April to aid those children that depend on the school meals distributed during the summer and this week it was announced its approval. 

“Of course, the real winners here are the kids, whose dinner plates will be full,” wrote Cindy Huddleston, an attorney with the Florida Policy Institute, an organization that played an important role in the approval by persuading the Florida Department of Children and Families and Gov. Ron DeSantis to apply for the funds. “However, this is also a victory for those who made their voices heard,” she said. 

“Not only will this program go a long way to meet the unmet nutritional needs of kids and provide relief to families who are still reeling from the economic hit they have taken during the pandemic,” Huddleston wrote, “it will also be an economic boost to local communities where families shop for groceries.”

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