Georgia SNAP Customers Approved to Purchase ‘Hot Foods’ in the Wake of Hurricane Helene

Atlanta, GA - In areas hardest hit by Hurricane Helene, Georgians who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can now temporarily use their benefits to purchase prepared or "hot foods" from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved retailers. These customers are approved until Nov. 7, 2024, to do so.

SNAP recipients are typically not approved to purchase hot foods, and instead must use their benefits to purchase food that they can prepare at home. But weeks after Hurricane Helene came through Georgia, thousands of Georgians are still without power and/or water. The Georgia Department of Human Services' (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) submitted a request to USDA to provide customers with greater flexibility in how they feed their families.

The prepared food waiver covers recipients who live in the following counties:

Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Franklin, Glascock, Glynn, Habersham, Hancock, Hart, Henry, Irwin, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Madison, McDuffie, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morgan, Monroe, Newton, Oglethorpe, Pierce, Rabun, Richmond, Rockdale, Screven, Spalding, Stephens, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Towns, Treutlen, Turner, Twiggs, Walton, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson, Wheeler, and Worth.

Georgians affected by Hurricane Helene are encouraged to monitor the Georgia DHS websiteand social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, and X) for timely updates, as well as visit the Salvation Army websitefor a list of feeding locations and the American Red Cross websitefor shelters.