A surge of stolen SNAP benefits has caused a flood of people to seek help at a local community serving nonprofit organization.

Betty Bernhart, with The Red Hook Initiative, said they've had nearly 50 people over the last two weeks seek help for stolen benefits, totaling $23,788.80.

Bernhart helps residents apply for benefit reimbursement to essentially get a refund of their stolen benefits from the federal government.

The deadline to apply is Friday, Dec. 20.

From August 2023 to September 2024, more than 105,000 claims for replacement benefits for SNAP and Temporary Assistance were approved by the NY Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) totaling more than $44.7 million statewide.

Bernhart said many of the people she's worked with have not gotten the stolen money reimbursed.

"When are they going to receive these benefits?" said Bernhart. "It is Christmas and its also going to be new years and half of these families are not going to be able to provide for their children."

Rep. Dan Goldman, who represents part of Brooklyn, said there is currently a resolution in the budget bill before the house that would extend the deadline for SNAP benefit reimbursement through 2028.

"This is a massive and growing problem that we are working," he said.

Goldman also said he would like to see EBT cards transition to include a chip, as most debit and credit cards now have.

"Both the combination of a chip and pin code will allow it to be more secure," he said.

The OTDA said EBT users should follow these simple tips to protect their EBT cards.

- Inspect point-of-sale devices closely

- Change your PIN regularly

- Review transaction history frequently

- Freeze EBT card immediately after use in EBTedge App

OTDA also released a statement to News 12 regarding EBT fraud:

“OTDA takes seriously any report of benefit theft and continues to work in close collaboration with local, state, and federal authorities to provide any information they require that will help bring perpetrators to justice."