Don’t Throw These Cards in the Trash

New York State is distributing Pandemic EBT food benefits to all households with eligible children, including many families in Crown Heights; Some are unknowingly throwing them out. 

New York State is sending out Pandemic EBT food benefits to households with eligible children, and community activists are urging locals to keep an eye out for the cards.

The benefits are automatically mailed to eligible families, including many families in the Crown Heights community. For families with a number of kids, the amounts can up up to a significate sum.

The Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 and Other Extensions Act reauthorized the payment of P-EBT food benefits to households with children who would have received free school meals under the National School Lunch Act. These temporary food benefits are being provided to help cover the cost of meals children would have otherwise received at school during the 2021-22 school year, and for the Summer 2022 and Summer 2023 periods.

According to one concernced community activist, many families are throwing out the letters from New York State upon their arrival, not realizing what they contain. They urge residents to keep their eye out for the cards, and to use them as directed.

The way to activiate the cards can also be tricky, they say, and it is important to follow the exact instructions provided to access the funds.

“Hopefully, these benefits will help many families cover their Yom Tov food expenses,” they said.