Kentucky Students Eligible for New Emergency Food Benefits

Rhonda: Hi guys, it’s Rhonda with Kentucky SPIN. I just wanted to share with you all real quickly, if you had not heard that there is some new emergency food benefits that you may qualify for, for your student. What it is, is the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department of Community Based Services and the Kentucky Department of Education have teamed together and there is funding to help with the cost when our children could not go to school. [00:00:33] For those who have received free or reduced lunch to help to get some funds to help with that cost. So what it is, is and, also too, I want to make sure you may not have otherwise qualified, but you will because of this emergency assistance. And what it is, is there is time from March, April, and May that make up for each student, who received, or would receive free or reduced lunch if the children were in school. That in totals $313 and some change per student. [00:01:12] So what’s important here. If you already receive EBT, it should automatically, if it hasn’t already, go onto your card per student, so you may have more than one child that is school aged within the school. So you should automatically see that on your card. [00:01:29] Also, I want to make sure that you know, that if you would have qualified for free or reduced lunch after March 13th, many of our families, have lost jobs. And so even if you didn’t qualify for free or reduced prior to March 13th, those after you might qualify for these pandemic, the EBT, funds to help your family. [00:01:55] Also, and this is whether you have signed up for EBT or not. So what it is, but what you’ve got to do. And as I explained others, a few other situations of qualifying too, is you need to go online. I will have a link, in the description of this video. [00:02:14] You need to go on and apply. You just need your child’s student ID number, which you can find out from your school or in Infinite Campus you can find out your student’s ID number. Every child, student in Kentucky has a specific student ID number, and you can get that on Infinite Campus. [00:02:36] So you will need that and you fill out the application only once. It will ask you if you have other children to add, it’s simple, quick. Your name, the school district. [00:02:48] Now I want to make sure you go on and do that because the deadline for that is June 30th and we need everybody who would qualify to go on there to get that help for their families. [00:02:58] Also too, even if you would not otherwise qualify for free or reduced lunch. But your child attends a school where they all get free lunch. You’re going to qualify for this and need to go on and fill that out. Some schools, because there is such a high number of free and reduced, they are able to offer free breakfast and lunch for all students. Some of our school districts, the whole district is on it, regardless of the school that you go to. [00:03:29] Now in some larger ones like Jefferson County, as an example, not all schools are on free. But there are certain schools within Jefferson County that are. So if your child receives a free breakfast and lunch, you need to go online and fill this out. I want everybody to do that. We need this help and we need to access those funds and don’t be too proud. [00:03:53] I need it. You need it. All of us need help right now. And those funds are there and we want everybody who would qualify to get it. [00:04:01] So please stay safe and go on there and help spread the word so that you get this help for your family. And stay safe I hope everybody is well and we’ll talk soon. Bye bye.