Orange County residents affected by Hurricane Ian can pre-register beginning today, Monday, Oct. 17, D-SNAP.
That'sdisaster relief through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
D-SNAP is for low-income families who may not have SNAP benefits. They could receive the monthly maximum for their household size.
For a family of four, that's $939 to spend on food, according to the USDA.
Greg Higgerson, development director for Second Harvest of Central Florida, says many Central Florida families are living on the edge financially and can't absorb the extra costs brought on by disaster.
"D-SNAP," he said, "is really the thing that is going to help people say, 'You know, well, at least I don't have to worry about some of the food expenses this time. I can take what I would normally spend on food and sort of divert that temporarily to helping cover some of these extra expenses."
Applicants will pre-register at myflfamilies.com and then register by phone.
Those phone Interviews will begin Thursday, based on the first letter of the applicant's last name:
A-F: Call on Thursday, Oct. 20
G-N: Call on Friday, Oct. 21
O-Z: Call on Saturday, Oct. 22
Any last name: Call on Sunday, Oct. 23
On-site interviews will be planned for applicants who have not already done a phone interview.
Pre-registration starts next Monday for Lake, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties.
