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New York state disburses additional food aid for fourth straight month

Basket with $36 worth of food, the amount cut to federal food stamp recipients in early November
Basket with $36 worth of food, the amount cut to federal food stamp recipients in early November

Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers will be getting more money than usual to help with groceries this month, the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance said Monday.

The office said all 750,000 people enrolled in the SNAP program will receive the maximum allowable payment this month, even though some households usually only qualify for a portion of that amount.

The office’s commissioner, Mike Hein, said the COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for many New Yorkers to afford groceries.

“No New Yorker should be left wondering whether or not they can afford to eat -- especially not during an unprecedented public health crisis,” Hein said.

Hein said the aid will help families and communities “mend” after unemployment soared earlier in the outbreak.

Emergency food distributions by the local nonprofit Foodlink have been supplementing state aid in Monroe and surrounding counties since New York’s PAUSE order went into effect in March.

Brett was the health reporter and a producer at WXXI News. He has a master’s degree from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.
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