Missouri begins issuing summer food aid for kids
Most eligible kids will receive the benefits automatically and won't need to apply, but those who do need to apply must do so by Aug. 31 (USDA photo).
Missouri has begun issuing federal food benefits that could reach 475,000 kids this summer.
The first batch of Missouri's summer food benefits for children were issued on Thursday night, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services told The Independent Friday. Each eligible child will receive a one-time benefit of $120, loaded onto a card that can be used like a debit card to buy groceries.
The program is designed to help low-income families pay for food during summer months. States pay 50% of the administrative costs and the federal government pays 100% of the benefits.
It's part of a permanent federal program in its second year of existence called Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, or SUN Bucks. The program aims to help kids who receive subsidized school meals avoid a summer drop-off in nutrition.
The state in years past has struggled to get the benefits out to cover the summer months. Last year they didn't begin going out until September, due to technical issues, the state said at the time.
Food security advocates in the state were relieved when Missouri opted into the program after weighing factors like technology issues and staffing.
There were 11 Republican-led states that opted not to offer the program this year, and a 12th, Oklahoma, will offer it only to tribal nations.
Most eligible families in Missouri will receive the benefits automatically.
The following groups of kids are automatically eligible, and their families will not need to apply for benefits:
Students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch during the school year,
Households already enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or temporary assistance,
And children between ages 7 and 17 in foster care, who are experiencing homelessness or are migrants.
Those benefits will be issued on an existing card if the family is enrolled in SNAP benefits or temporary assistance, or on a new mailed card if they are not. Families who need a new EBT card can request one by phone or the ebtEDGE mobile app.
Families who are not automatically eligible must submit an application online by Aug. 31. The state's eligibility navigator will tell families whether they must apply.
Benefits will expire 122 days after they are issued, regardless of usage, so families must act quickly once the benefits are distributed. They should also keep the cards for next summer's program, the state's website advises.
An estimated 475,000 Missouri kids could receive the benefits, according to a letter to the state from the federal Food and Nutrition Service earlier this year.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Manna Food Project reports rise in food insecurity, people seeking food assistance
PETOSKEY — Grocery store visits and housing costs continue to rise, causing major financial strain for some Michiganders, and Emmet County is no different. Carrie Klingelsmith, executive director of the Manna Food Project, said the group has been working to help reduce the strain, spending more on food to keep grocery costs lower for Northern Michigan residents. According to a press release from The Manna Food Project, one in six Michigan residents — more than 1.5 million people — struggle with food insecurity, and one in five children do not know where their next meal will come from. Around 600,000 of those Michiganders are ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The number of people experiencing hunger rose to 14.9% in Emmet County, with 48% of food insecure people ineligible for SNAP, according to recent data from Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap study, which uses data from 2023. Manna supports residents in Emmet, Charlevoix and Antrim counties, and all three saw an increase in adult and child hunger. Through May 2025, the Manna Food Project had distributed more than 700,000 pounds of food throughout the region, a 24% increase from last year. To try to keep up with demand, Klingelsmith said Manna has been seeking outside funding sources and partnerships, including grant writing. "It is very fulfilling every day," she said. "Everybody right now is just having a really difficult time, and being there to listen and show compassion to people — I think is super important in the work that we do every day." Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage In the last four years, the group has seen an increase of around 84% of people seeking food assistance, Klingelsmith said. She added that when people are food insecure, they likely need financial assistance in other areas as well. "It's a snowball effect," she said. "It just takes one thing — an ice storm, for example — to set people back where they just can't catch up. It's a rollercoaster of people trying to manage the different aspects of their lives." For people interested in learning more about the Manna Food Project, how to donate or get involved with volunteering, visit — Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@ Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @KarlyGrahamJrn. This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Manna Food Project sees rise in food insecurity, requests for assistance in Emmet County
New York Post
4 days ago
- New York Post
Air India releases new details about two engines on doomed London flight
Air India has revealed that one of the two engines on the doomed Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight that crashed seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport was new, and the other wasn't due for a service until the end of the year. 'The right engine was a new engine put in March 2025,' the airline's chairman N Chandrasekaran told the local Indian news channel, Times Now. Advertisement 'The left engine was last serviced in 2023 and (was) due for its next maintenance check in December 2025'. 6 Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner takes off from Ahmedabad airport just before crashing on June 12, 2025. Newslions / SWNS 6 Rescue workers at the crash site of the Air India plane in Ahmedabad, India. AFP via Getty Images Investigations are underway into how the flight bound for London's Gatwick Airport crashed into a medical students' hostel last Thursday, killing at least 270 people. Advertisement 'There are a lot of speculations and a lot of theories,' Chandrasekaran said, 'But the fact that I know so far is this particular aircraft, this specific tail, AI171, has a clean history. 'I am told by all the experts that the black box and recorders will definitely tell the story. So, we just have to wait for that.' 6 Firefighters extinguish flames from the site where the plane crashed. AP 6 The tail of the Boeing plane sticks out from a building. AP Advertisement The plane's two black boxes have been recovered allowing for analysis of the cockpit voice recorder, which captures audio including voices, alarms and background noises from the cockpit, and the flight data recorder, which logs flight parameters like engine performance and the plane's speed and altitude. Chandrasekaran said that it may be a month before preliminary results of the investigation are available. He also said the flight's captain, Sumeet Sabharwal, was very experienced with over 11,500 hours of flying experience behind him, while his first officer Clive Kunder, had more than 3,400 hours. 6 A fireball shoots into the sky after the Air India plane crashed. Newslions / SWNS Advertisement 6 Family members of Akash Patni, one of the passengers aboard the doomed Air India crash, grieve during a funeral procession on June 17, 2025. AP 'What I hear from colleagues is that they were excellent pilots and great professionals,' he said. 'So we can't jump to any conclusions.' A team of experts from Boeing, engine supplier GE Aerospace and from the UK and US have joined the Indian-led investigation. Funerals have begun for the casualties of India's worst aviation disaster in three decades. The sole survivor of the crash, 40-year-old British man Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, laid his younger brother Ajay, who was also on the flight, to rest on Wednesday.
UPI
4 days ago
- UPI
On This Day, June 19: Supreme Court rules student prayer at games unconstitutional
1 of 6 | Demonstrators pray in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 2022. On June 19, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayers led by students at public high school football games aren't permitted under the constitutional separation of church and state. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo On this date in history: In 1846, two amateur baseball teams played under new rules at Hoboken, N.J., planting the first seeds of organized baseball. The New York Nine beat the Knickerbockers, 23-1. In 1856, the first Republican national convention ended in Philadelphia with the nomination of explorer John Charles Fremont of California for president. James Buchanan, a Federalist nominated by the Democrats, was elected. In 1864, the Union sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge sank the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama in the Battle of Cherbourg off the coast of France. In 1865, nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, freedom from slavery was announced in Galveston, Texas, the most remote area of the country where slavery was still practiced. The day came to be celebrated annually as Juneteenth, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day and Liberation Day. In 1867, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, installed as emperor of Mexico by French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864, was executed on the orders of Benito Juarez, president of the Mexican Republic. In 1905, Pittsburgh showman Harry Davis opened the world's first nickelodeon, showing "The Great Train Robbery," a silent Western film. The storefront theater had 96 seats, charged 5 cents and prompted the advent of movie houses across the United States. In 1910, Spokane, Wash., had the first Father's Day. File Photo by Gary C. Caskey/UPI In 1944, World War II's Battle of the Philippine Sea began. Japanese forces tried unsuccessfully to prevent further Allied advancement in the South Pacific. In 1953, convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by electric chair at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y. In 1965, Nguyen Cao Ky became the prime minister of South Vietnam, the ninth leader within the past 20 months. UPI File Photo In 1972, Hurricane Agnes made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, going on to kill 128 people along the eastern U.S. seaboard. In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1981 Louisiana law that required schools to teach the creationist theory of human origin espoused by fundamentalist Christians. In 1991, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar surrendered to police in Medellin in the wake of the assassination of Luis Carlos Galan. Authorities convinced him to give himself up in exchange for a lighter sentence for prior criminal activity -- activity which continued after his imprisonment. In 1999, horror novelist Stephen King was hit by a car and severely injured while out for a walk in rural Maine. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayers led by students at public high school football games aren't permitted under the constitutional separation of church and state. In 2022, the high court ruled, however, that a school district in Washington violated a coach's First Amendment rights when they stopped him from publicly praying on the field after games. In 2008, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, became the first candidate at that level to bypass public financing since the program was established. In 2013, James Gandolfini, who starred in the gangster drama The Sopranos, died of a heart attack in Rome. He was 51. In 2014, Felipe VI was proclaimed Spain's new king after his father, King Juan Carlos, abdicated the throne. In 2019, Joy Harjo was named the first Native American poet laureate of the United States. In 2024, the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, concluded after at least 1,300 people died over the five-day trek. Officials blamed a lack of cooling centers, sleeping accommodations and other critical services as temperatures soared above 125 degrees Fahrenheit. File Photo by Mohammad Kheirkhah/UPI
