The State of Louisiana has received a three-day extension to take applicants looking to receive disaster food assistance, known as DSNAP.
The request was made to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service due to the high volume of calls and requests for the supplemental food aid.
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services reports that it has already processed more than 73,000 applications but it is only about midway in its parish-by-parish application process that limits a certain week's calls to people from parishes listed for that particular week. At one point, DCFS said it was receiving as many as 350 calls per second, in many cases because people were not aware that there were assigned weeks for certain parishes and days within those weeks depending on your last name.
The extension, which will run from October 11-13, will be for those who missed their original application time, possibly because of jammed phone lines.
Residents in the following parishes are eligible for DSNAP aid:
Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Martin (only lower St. Martin parish ZIP codes 70339 and 70380), St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana parishes.
Here is the remaining schedule for DSNAP applications:
EXTENSION PERIOD - Oct. 11-13
During the extension, residents of these parishes who have not yet applied for DSNAP may call on the following days according to the following alphabet schedule:
- October 11 – Residents with last names beginning with A-L
- October 12 – M-Z
- October 13 – A-Z (open to all last names)
* Note: SNAP recipients from these parishes are not eligible for DSNAP and should not call to apply.