LIVE OAK — Food benefits are now available to those impacted locally by Hurricane Irma.

The Department of Children and Families, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is implementing the Food for Florida Disaster Food Assistance Program for those in Lafayette and Suwannee counties today through Tuesday at the Live Oak Church of God.

For more information, people are asked to visit www.myflfamilies.com/fff and not call the church for information about the program.

The church is located at 9828 U.S. Highway 129 and will be assisting people from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

To qualify for the Food for Florida Disaster Food Assistance program, applicants must have lived or worked in one of the counties declared for FEMA Individual Assistance on Sept. 5, and not be receiving food assistance through the regular Food Assistance Program. Additionally, eligible individuals and families must have suffered a disaster-related loss, such as damage to their homes or self-employment property, loss of food, reduction or loss of income, or have incurred other disaster related expenses. 

DCF will provide or mail Electronic Benefits Transfer cards to eligible individuals and families to use at authorized USDA food retailers. The program counts only income and expenses from Sept. 5 through Oct. 4, 2017.

Individuals are encouraged to fill out the initial application for assistance online no later than the day before visiting the Food for Florida location. The application is available on the Food for Florida website.

It is not necessary for someone to bring all of their family members with them to the Food for Florida location. DCF just needs to see one person from each household.