Following the Highland Fire in Riverside County, California, food scarcity has surfaced as a major issue in the communities of Anza and Aguanga. To reassure affected residents, the state has announced that those CalFresh households that utilized their benefits for purchasing food and suffered food losses due to the fire, have until November 28 to report these losses and request replacement benefits, as per the Riverside County news release.
An approximate total of 22,868 households in the impacted areas have received around $14.6 million in CalFresh benefits. Unfortunately, food purchased with these benefits may have been destroyed due to the wildfire that started on October 30. The State has extended the reporting period for food loss from 10 to 30 days, allowing impacted households to evaluate their losses and initiate the recovery process, according the to Riverside County News Release.
Assistant Director at Riverside County's Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) Self Sufficiency Division, Allison Gonzalez, said, "We want our customers to know we’re here to help recover losses as quickly as possible." Gonzalez added that customers affected by the recent fire and related power outages can report their loss of CalFresh purchased food due to the Highland Fire by November 28, by calling 1-877-410-8827, visiting the nearest DPSS office, or requesting online at BenefitsCal.com.
