The Eudora Schools Foundation is providing $150 gift cards to Gene’s Heartland Foods for families impacted by delays to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
To be eligible, families must currently receive SNAP benefits and have at least one student enrolled in the school district. Families can apply for a gift card here.
Monica Dittmer, volunteer and program coordinator at the foundation, said over 50 family members in Eudora have benefited from this program so far. She said the first round of gift cards will go home with students on Tuesday.
Dittmer said the foundation will keep sending gift cards until it can’t, and applications have been coming in consistently.
The gift cards are being funded through the foundation’s Cardinals Care Fund, which is used to help families with urgent financial needs, like utility bills. Dittmer said the foundation knew SNAP interruptions would cause a dire need for the district’s families.
“We decided to just go ahead and use some of our funds that we had earmarked for that and do some grocery gift cards,” Dittmer said. “We were trying to think about what is the quickest and easiest way we could get food in the hands of our families who need it most.”
The Eudora Schools Foundation is also taking donations from community members that want to help. Dittmer said people can send money through Venmo to @EudoraSchoolsFoundation. Those interested can also send money online.
“This is when people need help,” Dittmer said. “We can do something, and we can also ask others to stand in and join us to provide some additional funds to really try to meet that need that’s happening right now.”
Superintendent Stu Moeckel said the district is partnering with the foundation to help families secure this assistance.
“Families always have a ton on their plate, and any way we can help facilitate avenues where they can get connected to those opportunities to have some of those needs met is important,” Moeckel said.
K-State Extension recently released the Douglas County Food Resource Guide for information on where and how to access food locally. You can find that guide here.
Reach Bella Waters at [email protected].
