Roughly 85,000 Michigan food aid recipients started the New Year with the prospect of empty bellies.
State officials say a human error led to monthly food aid payments
not being added to Bridge Cards for about a tenth of those who receive the aid,
the Associated Press reported. Bridge
Card recipients receive about $540 a month, on average, to feed their families.
To their credit, officials of the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget worked through the night to restore the money. As of Friday morning, money had been added to about half the cards.
The cynical may argue the error just meant recipients had to wait a day or so longer to buy lottery tickets, liquor and smokes. While that occurs, to be sure, advocates for the poor insist most recipients use the aid for basic sustenance – and survival.
