Letter - People Power United sends a letter to Florida officials urging participation in the Summer EBT program to help fight food insecurity among low-income children

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People Power United joined other local, state, and national groups to a letter to Florida officials urging participation in the Summer EBT program to help fight food insecurity among low-income children. Shout out to Florida Voices for Health for leading these efforts.

Here is the letter sent on behalf of our People Power United membership:

Copies provided by hand delivery to:

May 1, 2024

Re: Request that Florida Elect to Participate in 2025 Summer EBT by the Federal Deadline of August 15, 2024

Dear Governor DeSantis, Senators Broxson and Rouson, and Representatives Leek and McClure:

We, the undersigned organizations, respectfully urge the state of Florida to participate in the 2025 Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program (Summer EBT) to help fight food insecurity among low-income children. Summer EBT is a food assistance program established for children by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. Summer EBT provides each eligible child approximately $40 per month in grocery assistance during the summer, when school is out, to supplement summer meal programs. To preserve the option to participate in  Summer EBT for 2025, Florida must notify and submit supporting documentation to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) by August 15, 2024.

Many children in low-income families have access to free or reduced-price lunches during the school year through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). However, during the summer, when school is out, those children no longer receive meals through that program. Summer EBT was created to ensure that families continue to have resources to keep these children from going hungry during the summer. Summer EBT was specifically designed to work in tandem with other food assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Summer BreakSpot, to put food on the plates of children during the summer. Although SNAP and Summer BreakSpot are a saving grace for children in struggling families, those programs are not designed to meet all of their family’s food needs. In addition, Summer Breakspot only reaches about 17 percent of eligible children due, in part, to the fact that not all families have transportation to participating locations, such as parks and libraries.

Summer EBT is particularly important because hunger continues to plague 1 in 7 children in Florida, which experienced one of the highest spikes (6.4 percent) in grocery costs in the country last year. Parents are often forced to make hard choices between buying food for their children or paying for other necessities such as rent and electric bills. As a result, food banks, church food pantries, and other non-profit emergency food providers are facing an extraordinary uptick in demand, which they are hard-pressed to meet.

In 2024, Florida chose not to participate in Summer EBT, even though the program would have provided over 2 million hungry children with roughly $259 million in federal food assistance. This was a missed opportunity for all Florida children who face food insecurity. While hunger affects children of all races and ethnicities in the state, children of color are disproportionately harmed by Florida’s decision to pass on Summer EBT for 2024. Black and Latinx children face a concerning reality where they are twice as likely to experience food insecurity compared to their counterparts.

Although 50 percent of administrative costs must be borne by the state, the federal government pays 100 percent of the cost of Summer EBT benefits as well as the remainder of a state’s administrative expenses in running the program. Summer EBT benefits that participating families would spend at grocery stores, farmers markets, and farm stands is estimated to have an economic impact to the state of as much as $466 million. Additionally, Summer EBT has been proven to reduce hunger and support healthier diets of children in a past demonstration project funded by the USDA. Results included increased consumption of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and decreased consumption of sugary beverages. 

Expanding the Summer EBT program and enabling summer meal programs to be more flexible is the simplest and most practical way to prevent child hunger when school is out, especially for children in rural communities. It is not too late to implement the Summer EBT program. States have until August 15, 2024, to submit a Plan for Operations and Management (POM), expenditure plan, and their intent to administer Summer EBT for the following summer under FNS’ Summer EBT Interim Final Rule. We are optimistic that given the urgency of the need to address child hunger and the resulting economic boon that Summer EBT would bring to the state as a whole, Florida will resolve fiscal and logistic barriers to meet FNS’ deadline, and prepare to roll out Summer EBT in 2025. We stand ready to support the state through the process to implement Summer EBT and ensure Florida’s children have the resources they need to thrive.

Sincerely,

Bread for the World

Florida Impact

11th Episcopal District AMEC

The Kids Entertainment

Abundant Harvests Farm LLC

Achievement Center for Children & Families

ADONAIS SECOND CHANCES, INC

AEDAP

Allegany Franciscan Ministries

American Children's Campaign

American Heart Association

Angry Booch

Apple Diva Gourmet Candy Apples

Arise Horizon Community Outreach Services

Audubon Park Covenant Church

Bach Notary Services

Branches United Methodist Church

Capitol Alliance Group, Inc

Caridad Center, Inc.

Carol City United Methodist Church

Catalyst Miami

Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy Central Florida Jobs with Justice

Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation

Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County Christ Church United Methodist Ft. Lauderdale Community Foundation of Sarasota County

Community Justice Project, Inc.

Concord AME Church

Connect 2 Greatness

Disability Rights Florida

Dorothy Ballard Gibson Lay Organization

Extended Hands Community Outreach, Inc.

FABB

Faith in Florida

Families for Strong Public Schools

Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County, Inc. Feeding Hope Village

First Congregational UCC Sarasota FL

First Congregational United Church of Christ

First United Methodist Church of Sanford

First United Methodist Church, Mt. Dora

FL National Organization for Women (FL NOW) Flipper Chapel AMEC, Tallahassee

Florida Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Inc. Florida Council of Churches

Florida Freedom to Read Project

Florida Head Start Association

Florida Health Advocates

Florida Legal Services, Inc.

Florida People’s Advocacy Center

Florida Policy Institute

Florida Public Health Association

Florida Voices for Health

FoodRecovery.org

Forty Carrots Family Center

Friends of the Riviera Beach Schools

Girls Inc. of Sarasota County

Gnarbucha Inc

Good Hope A.M.E. Church

Good Trouble St. Johns

Grace Family Church

Grant Chapel AME Church

Greater Miami Jewish Federation

Gulf Coast Community Foundation

Gulfstream Goodwill

Haitian Neighborhood Center, Sant La Inc.

Hand up project

Harvest 4 Hearts

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of PBC Hispanic Services Council, Inc.

Indaba Inc

Integrated Disaster Solutions LLC

Integrative Wellness

Jacksonville Quaker Worship Group at the Beach James Accounting & Tax Practice, PA

Jax NOW

Jewish Community Relations Council

John Wesley United Methodist Church United Women in Faith Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County

KeepSafe Reimagined DBA ElderrestQ LLC

Kingdom of God Outreach Ministries

Kravey Gardens

League of Women Voters of Broward County

League of Women Voters of Florida

League of Women Voters of Hillsborough and Pasco Counties League of Women Voters of Volusia County

LFK Immigration PA

Life Changers Global Nation Ministry

Locally Grown Inc

LOVING HANDS FOR THE NEEDY, INC

Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc

LWV Polk County

Manatee Community Foundation

Marianna District of the AME Church

Mary F Handy Women’s Missionary Society

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

MedGators for Health

Miami Workers Center

Moms for Libros

MomsRising

Mount Moriah African Methodist Episcopal Church Mount Olive Development Corporation

mRelief

Muslim Women's Organization

NAACP Florida State Conference

Nanas, Papas and Friends

National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum Nelson’s Outreach Ministries

New Bethel AME Church Sanford

New Mt Zion AME Church

Orange Education Support Professionals Association P.S. 305

Parents for Books

Park Lake Presbyterian Church, Orlando, FL

Partnership for Child Health

Pastors for Florida Children

Peace/Justice Com. Benedictine Sisters of FL

People Power United

Picnic Project

Poinciana United Methodist Church

Prime Time Palm Beach County Inc.

PRISM FL

Progress Florida Education Institute

Quaker Silent Worship St. Augustine

Rich Bay African Methodist Episcopal Church, Inc. Riverside Arts Market

Riverside Avondale Preservation

Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services Saint Louis Catholic Church

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church

School District of Palm Beach County

SDDBC Ron Brown Chapter

Seitanic Jax (small business/restaurant)

SEIU Florida

Shiloh AMEC

Sistahs 4 Sisters

South Florida Hunger Coalition

SPLC Action Fund

Sprout Up

St Johns County Legal Aid

St. John AME Church

St. John's on the Lake United Methodist Church St. Louis Catholic Church, Miami, Fl

St. Mark Lutheran Church

St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal

Star of the Sea Foundation

Swipe Out Hunger

Temple Beth-El of St. Petersburg

Temple Shalom

Temple Terrace Presbyterian Church

The Arc of The Glades

The Florida Association of School Social Workers The Garden Network, Inc.

The Glades Initiative, Inc.

The Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center The Journey Institute, Inc.

The Lord's Place

The Mental Health Association of Central Florida The Miami Foundation

THE PURPLE GROUP Lee COUNTY FL

The Session of First Presbyterian Church of Tallahassee The Soup Kitchen, Inc.

The United Church

Together for Hope Black Belt

Top Teens of America

Tradewinds Financial Planning, LLC

Trinity United Methodist Church

UnidosUS

United Church and Quaker group of St. Augustine United Church UCC-DOC St. Augustine

United Teachers of Dade

United Way Miami

United Way of Broward County

United Way of Florida

United Way of Palm Beach County

United Way of South Sarasota County

United Way of Suwannee Valley

United Way of West Florida

Urban Health Partnerships, Inc

Urban Oasis Project

Vita Nova Inc.

Wintergarden Presbyterian Church

Without Borders Worldwide

Women's Resource Center

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People Power United champions progressive values and power to the people. We are a group of people who believe in the possibility of change and work to make it happen. Whether it's supporting a candidate, fighting to pass legislation, or working to change our culture, our members are committed to an inclusive and progressive future.