JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida now has less than two weeks to apply for federal dollars that would feed families next summer.
The state did not apply for the federal food assistance program called Summer EBT last year. According to numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, by not applying last year, Florida left more than $250 million dollars on the table that could have fed over two million eligible children.
Florida was one of around a dozen states to opt out of the program last year. A USDA spokesperson told First Coast News Friday they’re not releasing which states have and haven’t applied until after the deadline to start the application process, which is August 15.
First Coast News reached out to the governor’s office and Florida Department of Children and Families multiple times Friday, but did not get a response on if Florida plans to apply for the program this year and why they didn’t last year.
One in five children in Northeast Florida are faced with being hungry and that becomes even more of an issue during the summer, according to Feeding Northeast Florida. Feeding Northeast Florida said their need has risen about 20 percent over the summer and many of their agency partners are having to request more food and more items for children to manage the demand.
Layla Santiago, who has five children, believes she would be eligible for the summer EBT program.
“They’re all growing kids so they eat extremely a lot,” she said.
Santiago said feeding her family during the summer is more challenging.
“The summer is really challenging because now what I usually am able to stretch, it’s like now it’ll last me for a couple weeks," she said. "And then it's like, okay, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the last remainder of the month.”
Community activist Vanessa Brito helps people work with the Florida Department of Children and Families and said families last summer were in a "very precarious position."
“We know that it could absolutely help families," Brito said about the program. "The proof is every day I used to get requests for, ‘Oh well my light just got shut off,’ ‘Or I can’t afford to pay the light bill,’ ‘Or I can’t.’ Now I don’t even get requests for those things. I get requests for, ‘Can you send me a little bit of food?”
Santiago said more money to feed her kids in the summer would make a big difference.
“It would make a difference having the summer EBT assistance versus not,” said Santiago.
Find food pantries run by Feeding Northeast Florida here.