The City of Kenai and the Kenai Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center have partnered together to launch the Kenai Grocery & Household Goods Program. The program is designed to help individuals impacted by the public health emergency double their money for groceries and necessary household goods. The primary effect is to help families and individuals, the program will also have a secondary effect on helping local grocery retailers by encouraging shopping for groceries and necessary household items in Kenai.
The “Shop Here All Year In Kenai” program is currently going on through the 1st of April and Brittany Brown, Executive Director for the Chamber spoke to KSRM explaining how this program would work, “It’s going to be advertised as a totally separate program, however we’ve essentially tried to mimic it. It’s going to be done the same way, folks will submit their receipts either online or at the Chamber. For the eligible items, essentially is grocery and household, which, for the most part will be a majority of things you’re going to buy at those stores anyway being that there are only those specific stores including convenient stores, which will sell grocery and household items. Those particular businesses will sign up online through our form on the website. It’s going to run exactly the same, however it’s going to be advertised as a totally separate program, but done the same exact way.”
The original grocery and necessary household goods program ordinance read differently. Brown explains six amendments were made, “There were several amendments that were made and the changes are that the program will be for individuals, not Kenai residents, that was one of the amendments. Stores selling groceries and necessary household items include Kenai Walmart, Kenai Safeway, IGA, Three Bears, Maggie’s General Store and convenient stores. Convenient stores were added to the list. Under the participant rules, the following was added SNAP and WIC are not eligible payments. Also, under the participant rules, the following was added which was tobacco and alcohol are not eligible purchases.”
The program runs from now through April 30th or until the funds run out. More information can be found here.