The United States Department of Agriculture approved North Carolina’s waiver request to issue automatic replacement benefits to people who receive Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) in 11 North Carolina counties impacted by Hurricane Isaias.

The NC Department of Health and Human Services applied for an automatic mass replacement waiver after Hurricane Isaias made landfall and caused power outages in several North Carolina counties. Everyone who received Food and Nutrition Services for July by Aug. 4 in the 11 approved counties will receive an additional 40 percent of their July 2020 benefits to replace food lost as result of the extended power outages.

Approved counties include Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Gates, Jones, Martin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender and Washington.

The replacement benefits will be automatically credited to Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. No action is required from those eligible for the replacement services. FNS recipients who have already received replacement benefits based on a signed affidavit of loss after Hurricane Isaias will not be included in the automatic replacement process.

There are three ways to check your FNS balance 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
Visit www.ebtedge.com.
Click on “More Information” under “EBT Cardholder.”
You will be prompted to login and/or register your account. Download the ebtEDGE mobile app.

The app is available as a free download on the Apple Store and Google Play.
Call 1-888-622-7328 and follow the prompts to activate your PIN