Food Assistance Program For Hurricane Victims

 I just received this email, and I thought you or someone you know might be helped by this information:

 

SENATOR VITALE & ASSEMBLYMAN COUGHLIN ANNOUNCE START OF DISASTER FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR        NON-SNAP RECIPIENTS AFFECTED BY HURRICANE SANDY

 

(19th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT) – Senator Joseph F. Vitale and Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin are pleased to announce that Middlesex County is one of 16 counties in New Jersey to begin accepting Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) applications for eligible victims of Hurricane Sandy.

 

“For many residents affected by Hurricane Sandy, they have had to relocate to temporary housing such as a hotel, purchase gallon upon gallon of gas to fuel their cars or generators among other expenses, and ultimately it has hurt their bottom line in terms of being able to purchase food for themselves and their families,” said Senator Vitale. “Nobody should go without eating or eating properly during a stressful time like this following a devastating storm because they cannot afford it. D-SNAP is a common sense government mechanism to provide a helping hand to those who need it most,” Assemblyman Coughlin maintained.

 

Eligible residents must apply by Tuesday, December 4. D-SNAP locations can be found online at www.njsnap.org.

Under the rules, applicants in the designated counties must provide:

• Identification and proof of residency – a driver’s license, for example, would serve as both.
• Pay stubs and bank statements (cash, checking and savings) for the 30 days from October 28^th through November 26^th.  For example,

A household of one (1) with less than $2,268 in income during the aforementioned time period will be eligible for a $200 EBT card for grocery store purchases; or

A household of five (5) with than $4,452 in income during the aforementioned time period will be eligible for a $793 EBT card for grocery store purchases.

• Receipts that show more than $100 spent on disaster-related expenses between October 28 and November 26.  The cost of replacing food cannot be included in the $100.

 

Related expenses may include: restaurant purchases, temporary shelter in a motel, home/business repairs, evacuation expenses, disaster clean up, disaster related vehicle repairs, gasoline for a generator, and replacement of personal items, such as clothing or household items, such as appliances, tools, educational materials.

 

If any of the purchases were charged to a credit card, the resident must be able to document that they paid the credit card bill for these items by November 26^th.

 

Current SNAP recipients from the 16 counties listed above should not apply for this program because they already received a 30 percent October replacement allocation on their EBT card and will receive a supplemental benefit by December 7, 2012.