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NC Gets Approval To Extend Pandemic Food Assistance Program

The USDA extended waivers and granted extensions to several states to provide summer food assistance/nutrition programs for children. KERI BROWN/WFDD

More than a million low-income North Carolina children and their families will receive help with food assistance during the summer months. It's part of additional COVID relief funding from the federal government.

North Carolina has been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue a program known as  Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer or P-EBT.  It helps families with eligible children whose access to free or reduced-price meals at school or other food assistance has been impacted by COVID-19.

They will receive a one-time payment of $375 to cover the summer period from June through August. The money will be uploaded to a family's current P-EBT or Food and Nutrition Services card.

The program is administered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the state Department of Public Instruction.

State officials say having nutritious meals available year-round is critical to young children's development and well-being and the extension will help fill in the gap for struggling families when school is out. 

NCDHHS says the extension will provide approximately $450 million in food assistance to an estimated 1.2 million children and families in North Carolina this summer.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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