California families are running out of time to use $120 per kid benefit on groceries

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters Food assistance to pay for groceries is still available to many low-income California families who receive summer food assistance for their kids. Nearly $106 million of the federally funded SUN Bucks benefits are still unspent — but eligible families have just a few weeks left to tap the money, according to the California Department of Social Services. The benefits are only available to households that have already gotten the SUN Bucks in the mail this summer.Families must spend the funds within 122 days of receiving them, or they expire and return to the federal government. The program works like this: Every summer, California sends eligible low-income families electronic benefits (EBT) cards preloaded with $120 in food benefits per child. The state provides two meals a day to all public K-12 students, and the cards are meant to help families afford groceries for their kids throughout the summer