Use it or lose it: Summer EBT food benefits expiring Friday

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Some New York families have until October 17 to spend their remaining federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer funds or the money disappears. The state’s first round of benefits, issued on June 18, expire on Friday.

Funds cannot be replaced once they automatically run out after 122 days. This is only the first wave, with other benefits issued by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance ending like so:

Check your account balances and expiration dates and balances by visiting the Summer EBT website, using the ebtEDGE portal or app, or by calling (888) 328-6399 or (833) 452-0096.

Rachel Sabella, Director of No Kid Hungry New York, wants every family to check their card immediately and use the rest of their money before it’s gone. She called the benefits a lifeline and said it is “critical that families can make the most of every dollar to keep kids nourished and thriving.”

The federal Summer EBT program covers kids aged 6 to 16 who received benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance, or Medicaid between July 1, 2024, and September 4, 2025. Children of all ages who were enrolled in free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program were also supposed to be automatically included.

Most families were automatically enrolled. But to qualify through an application, students had to attend a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program, and the families had to make under 185% of the federal poverty level.

The program gives up to $120 per child to eligible families to pay for groceries when students do not get meals at school during the summer months. The money works like SNAP, good at retailers like grocery stores and farmers markets. Each eligible child was supposed to receive their own benefits on a separate EBT card, which is not combined with existing SNAP benefits.

Though it’s a federal program, Summer EBT is administered by the state. OTDA started mailing out eligibility letters on June 2.

In a poll from No Kid Hungry New York, 86% of New York households reported food costs rising faster than their incomes, and 53% of New Yorkers said food costs had driven up their debt over the previous year.