There are only 12 days left to apply for a $50 Walmart gift card from the Burlington County Times’ 2020 Give A Christmas program.
The BCT and NJ 211, the nonprofit organization helping to coordinate the effort, are accepting applications through Nov. 20. A family can receive up to four $50 gift cards, one per child and, if a family has less than four children, one between both parents.
But how do you apply? Here’s a step-by-step guide.
Step one: Live here
You are only eligible for a gift card if you are a resident of Burlington County.
Step two: Take out your phone and text GAC to 898211
That is NJ 211’s text line for GAC 2020.
Step three: Gather the necessary documents
Once you send the text, the service will welcome you. Then, it will take you to a screen that tells you all the documents you will need to send in to verify your identity.
A parent or legal guardian can apply for a child or a whole family, and he or she must send in a personal photo identification, a copy of a Social Security card, birth certificate, or school ID for each child, a copy of the family’s most current lease or utility bill and proof of income for the month of October.
This step will also inform applicants about where to send these materials. NJ 211 is accepting them either via fax, at 609-435-1529, or through email, at gac@nj211.org.
Step four: Answer the basic questions
What is the total number of people living in your household? And what is your gross household income?
You must write the first answer with a number, according to Melissa Acree, the executive director of NJ 211. As for the second question, the system will ask if your annual income is below a certain dollar level, based on the size of your family.
A family making 200 percent of the state poverty level or less will be eligible for gift cards, Acree said. For a family of five, that’s $60,340 or less per year, she added.
Step five: Fill out the application
At this point, you are done with texting. Now you have arrived at the Google doc application.
In the app, you must enter your cellphone number, first and last name, address, email, the number of children 17 and under and their dates of birth to verify their ages. You can list a maximum of four children, Acree said.
Then, you must also explain why you are applying for a card or cards. Acree said the explanations can be one sentence or a full paragraph.
Eligible recipients include, but are not limited to, parents with sick children, single parent households, people who are struggling with addiction and people who are unemployed.
“Or due to COVID my income has been cut drastically,” Acree added, referring to this year’s coronavirus pandemic. “Just describe the reason for the need.”
Step six: Press submit
Once you press this button, NJ 211 will receive your application, according to Acree.
NJ 211 has been partnering with the BCT since 2019, and the executive director has never seen an applicant turned away.
“You just have to live in Burlington, meet the income requirements and have a need,” she said.
To receive cards though, applicants must send in verification documents. If NJ 211 has not received them within 48 hours of processing an application, it will send a reminder text to the applicant, and follow up twice if it does not receive a response.
The nonprofit has to verify an applicant’s documents before it can send out a card. But once NJ 211 confirms a resident, it mails the card to the address on the application, Acree said.
Be sure to submit your application this week and next, before the Nov. 20 deadline.
NJ 211 is also available to assist county residents with basic needs on a year-round basis. As Acree said, just dial 211 for rental assistance, food, healthcare assistance and other basic needs.
Give A Christmas has been helping families in need during the holidays since 1968. It helps hundreds of families each year.
The BCT has the same deadline for donations, Nov. 20, as it does for applications. The donations from area residents pay for the gift cards. Visit https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/burlingtonchristmas/ to give money.
A local news and sports reporter around Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 2015, Jarrad Daniel Saffren joined The Burlington County Times’ award-winning local news team in October 2019, adding business, education and town government features to the coverage. Contact him at jsaffren@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JarradSaff. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to The Burlington County Times.