More than 38,000 students to receive food benefits this summer

Applications mailed home week of Feb. 11;  

completed forms due March 1

For the second consecutive year, the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (SEBTC) demonstration project will provide a select number of local qualifying students with a food package valued at $60 per month for June, July, and August 2013. The project is designed to help low-income families supplement their food budgets when school breakfast and school lunch meals are not readily available during the summer months.   

Applications for the program will be mailed home during the week of Feb. 11 to students who received SEBTC benefits last year, as well as to students who qualify for free and reduced price school meals or who are direct-certified for free school meals through food stamp eligibility.

Last year, 10,600 students attending schools in the Bay-Arenac Intermediate School District, Clare-Gladwin Regional Education Service District, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Midland County Educational Service Agency, and Tuscola Intermediate School District received food assistance through the program. Those same students will be automatically selected to participate in the 2013 program as long as they still qualify and they return their completed application to their school office by March 1.

An additional 28,000 low-income students from the same areas, along with Detroit Area Schools and Kentwood Area Schools, who return their consent forms by the March 1 deadline, will be randomly selected to receive either the $60 per month food package or a $30 per month food package.

“Ultimately, students who are well-nourished are able to start the school year healthy and ready for success in the classroom,” said Clare-Gladwin RESD Superintendent Sheryl Presler. “I encourage families who qualify to return these applications to hopefully take part in this wonderful opportunity.”

Made possible by a grant awarded to the state of Michigan by the USDA, the $60 and the $30 monthly food package per student per month will be delivered to families by an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card system existing through the State of Michigan WIC program.

Benefit recipients will be notified in May.

The SEBTC demonstration project is sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture and administered by the Michigan Department of Education and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Division of the Michigan Department of Community Health.  

The demonstration projects will be studied and evaluated by USDA providing critical information about the impact of these projects in the fight against hunger among our students during the summer months. 

To ensure healthy and nutritious selections are being made, the EBT cards will only pay for approved food items.

For more information on SEBTC, please call the Clare-Gladwin Regional Education Service District at (989) 386-8076, or visit www.sebtc-mi.com.