EBT machines are down...What's the Plan ?

On Saturday October 12, 2013, 17 states including Georgia were experiencing issues with the Electronic Benefits Transfer machines. Simply put EBT machines are used to transfer Suplemental Nutrional Assistance Program benefits(Food Stamps) to receipients once a month to a bank card. The card can be used at approved stores. Apparently the company Xerox, which the ebt system operates on had a power outage in its main headquarters in turn it took almost 12 hours to reboot. There were rumors it was related to the Government Shutdown.

Once stores became aware of the issue the store had the option to perform transactions manually in $50 increments. Please note that this was an option. Wal-Mart on Thornton Road, in Lithia Springs, GA used that option.  In turn this would still allow for purchases to be made with the EBT card.

The question is this, If small stores, such as convience stores did not utilize the manuel option, how could someone purchase food if they reside in a food desert. A food desert meaning that convience stores cahiers or owners may not have been aware of the manual option and people who only could purchase food with their EBT card and did not have transportation to get to a grocery store were left with the option of using cash on hand to purchase food, using another bank card, or going without food for the day.

This is a call to action for people to be proactive and have a plan in place.  Here are my suggestions. Always have at least a 3 day supply of water and food on hand at all times. Have at least $20 in cash at all times. Know your neighbors so you can help each other.