Food Assistance

After months of operating the Mustang Food Pantry, the number of individuals seeking assistance has declined to the point that we have decided to close the food pantry. We thank all those who have donated and refer those still in need of assistance to the Norwood Food Pantry.

Family-Style Meals
This program has been discontinued for July. If you have any questions, please contact Eli NorrisENorris@Norwood.K12.MA.us.

Grab and go lunches and breakfast for the next day will be available all summer long until August 21. Meals will be available for pick-up on Monday, Wednesday and Friday ONLY. We will give enough meals to cover until the next service day. All sites will be CLOSED on Tuesday and Thursday.  All lunches include a choice of entrée, vegetable, fruit and milk. Cold Options will vary week to week and will include sandwiches & salads.

Grab and go meals are FREE to ALL kids & teens 18 and under. Pick-up 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m, Mon & Wed &

• Thomas Balch Elementary School, 1170 Washington Street
• C.M. Callahan Elementary School, 116 Garfield Avenue
• F.A. Cleveland Elementary School, 33 George Willett Parkway
• John P. Oldham Elementary School, 165 Prospect Street
• C.J. Prescott Elementary School, 66 Richland Road

The Norwood Food Pantry provides free food to qualifying individuals and families in need. The Pantry is open every Saturday for shopping from 8:00 to 10:40 am and is located at the back of the Grace Episcopal Church, 150 Chapel Street, in Norwood. Click on the following link to complete the registration to determine if you and/or your family are eligible to receive food from the Norwood Food Pantry: Registration.

SNAP, formerly “food stamps,” provides a monthly benefit to buy nutritious foods. To get SNAP, you must be low-income and be a U.S. citizen or legal noncitizen (restrictions apply). If you need assistance filling out the forms, we can connect you with a staff member who can walk you through the registration process. Click on the following link to learn if you are eligible: SNAP.

For SNAP: Households can call the DTA Assistance Line at 877 382 2363 to apply by phone.

For TAFDC/EAEDC: Call any local DTA office (click here for contact info) directly to apply by phone - if needed, leave a message and a case manager will call the applicant back.

The case manager will make a note in the case record that the application was signed by phone and that the Rights and Responsibilities were reviewed, understood and agreed to. The applicant does not need to do an online application or a paper application. The verbal confirmation serves as the signature.

The case manager must do the application interview at the same time as accepting the application by phone - when applying by phone the application and the interview happen at the same time.

After applying by phone, DTA will mail the client a summary document with the application language. The application does not need to return this document, it is for their records.

Currently, DTA only accepts a signature by phone for applications.

HESSCO runs a Meals on Wheels program available to homebound Seniors aged 60+ or to anyone with a doctor’s diagnosis of dementia. They deliver daily hot meals Monday through Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, HESSCO is delivering frozen snacks to all Meals on Wheels consumers. These snacks include grilled cheese sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, and more. These additional food items are intended to address food insecurity issues and help consumers plan if there are future disruptions in service. Please direct all new referrals for this program to the Information and Referral Department at HESSCO (781) 784- 4944. Click on the LINK to learn more about HESSCO.

"Food4Vets" Pick-Up
The Massachusetts Military Support Foundation is working to provide 50,000 vital food kits to veterans who have limited access to food due to COVID-19. Volunteers will staff two tractor-trailers at Gillette Stadium, Lot 5, 1 Patriot Place, Foxborough, MA 02035 where food will be delivered directly to your car. STARTING Monday, April 13, 2020, prior registration will be required and distribution will be 10-2 Monday and Wednesday only. Please click here to register. Please reach out to DonnaBaldwin@mmsfi.org for questions or more information.

P-EBT (Pandemic - Electronic Benefits Transfer) Program
The Pandemic - Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) Program is additional money for families to buy food while schools are closed due to COVID-19. Families will get $5.70 per child per day for every day school is closed.

You will receive P-EBT funds if your child(ren): 

• Receive free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program OR
• Attend a school where every student gets free meals  

Look for a letter in the mail from the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) in May. 

Notices and P-EBT cards for non-DTA families began going out this week to hundreds of thousands of kids across the state. The notices - addressed to the eligible child - will arrive prior to the cards. The P-EBT cards are mailed by Conduent (the MA EBT vendor) and will be mailed from their processing center in Indiana, while DTA notices are mailed locally in MA. Please tell families to save the notices because the notice has the child's case number - this P-EBT case number is necessary to PIN the P-EBT card. For a copy of the notice, see here. The notice was sent in English and Spanish with this babel notice in other languages identified by DESE. 

If families a) don't have the notice when they get the card or b) have moved and do not think the school has their most up to date address (the address on file with the school district is the address the P-EBT card was mailed to) the family should call Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline 1-800-645-8333. 

https://www.map-ebt.org/