Food Available to Victims of Hurricane Katrina Residing in Massachusetts; Project Bread to Provide Emergency, Long-term Help

EAST BOSTON, Mass., Sept. 9 -- Families hosting relatives or friends displaced by Hurricane Katrina are encouraged to call Project Bread’s statewide FoodSource Hotline at 800-645-8333 where special assistance is available to meet the specific needs of individual families.

Working with its statewide network of emergency food providers and local community organizations, Project Bread is able to provide emergency food to hungry families through soup kitchens, food pantries, and emergency food vouchers.

Displaced families living in Massachusetts are also eligible to receive special federal nutrition benefits as they rebuild their lives. In the case of food stamps, Hurricane Katrina victims will be certified under expedited service rules. They include relaxed guidelines for income, assets, and verification. Applicants will receive benefits within seven days.

The displaced family will be able to apply for food stamps, even if they don’t have identification, by having a community member identify them or by going through a process of self-declaration. Their application will allow them to receive food stamps for at least three months.

Displaced families who already receive food stamps can use their card in Massachusetts. If they do not have their card with them, they can call the Project Bread Hotline for information on how to access their account.

For school meals, if a family from a designated disaster area moves in with a host family, they are automatically considered homeless and their children are immediately eligible for free school meals.

For more detailed information on how to access food for hurricane victims, please call Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline at 1-800-645-8333 or visit the website at http://www.projectbread.org.

About Project Bread

As the state’s leading anti-hunger organization, Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. Through The Walk for Hunger, the oldest continual pledge walk in the country, Project Bread provides millions of dollars each year in privately donated funds to 400 emergency food programs in 132 communities statewide. Project Bread also advocates systemic solutions that prevent hunger in children and that provide food to families in natural, everyday settings. Over the past few years, the organization has invested $1.5 million in grants to community organizations that feed children where they live, learn, and play. For more information, visit http://www.projectbread.org.

Contact Information

Celia Alicata

Media Contact

Project Bread

Contact via E-mail