Summer EBT

Let the Children Have Food!

Speak up for Summer EBT for Kids

    Summer EBT is food in the summer for schoolchildren when they are missing free or reduced-price school meals.

    South Dakota declined it this summer(2023), one of only 7 states to deny this food to its children. Let’s speak up to keep the same thing from happening again in 2024. Almost all other states are participating.  South Dakota children need this food too.

Contact Gov.Noem, State Capitol, Pierre SD 57501, 605-773-3212,
Email thru: governor.sd.gov/office/contact.aspx

and SD’s Secretaries of Ed and Social Services.

 doe@state.sd.us, DSSInfo@state.sd.us

Ask them to accept Summer EBT for kids next summer.

-- This $40-a-month federal food benefit would go to every child who ordinarily gets free or reduced-price school meals during 3 months of summer. 

-- Demonstration projects during the pandemic show it reduces food insecurity. Summer EBT is now a permanent program.

-- The impact will be significant. Because South Dakota chose not to participate this year(2023), an estimated 63,000 South Dakota children missed out on summer food worth a total of $7,560,000.

-- Summer EBT would reach all areas of the state. This is especially helpful in areas without congregate summer lunch sites. Neither program by itself is enough to cover a child’s nutritional needs. Kids need both.

-- Adequate nutrition is critical for a child’s development and learning and behavior, and thus we all benefit as a society.

-- Help children return to classrooms in the fall ready to learn.                           

What is EBT? Electronic Benefits Transfer looks and works like a credit card, but it buys only food. This is the way SNAP (food stamps) is distributed.

Thanks from Bread for the World-SD, 11/10/23