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Food assistance benefits increase

Wednesday, 04/01/09 7:34am

Ross Sneyd - Colchester, VT

AP Photo/Toby Talbot
(Host) Vermonters who qualify for food stamps will be getting a raise today .

The federal stimulus bill includes $34 million to increase benefits to people in the "3Squares-Vermont'' program, which was formerly called Food Stamps.

A single-person household will get a monthly increase of $24. The benefit for a family of four goes up $80 a month.

Angela Smith-Dieng is with the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. She says the extra assistance is important to families.

(Smith-Dieng) "We know that the cost of food has really risen in the past year and often people's monthly benefit runs out before the end of the month. And so that last week or so, families are really scrambling to find food for the table and they often end up eating less nutritious food at the end of the month.''

(Host) This is the second time this year that there's been a big change in Vermont's Food Stamp program.

In January, eligibility for benefits was expanded and an additional 10,000 Vermonters qualified for help.

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