Summer EBT: Spending Your Benefits

Your Summer EBT benefits will be put onto an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card that works like a debit card. If you already have a QUEST card or a Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) card from the COVID-19 pandemic, we will put your Summer EBT benefits on that card. If you do not already have an active EBT card, we will mail you a new QUEST card with the benefits already loaded onto it.

Once the benefits are added to your EBT card, you have 122 days (about 4 months) to use them. Any Summer EBT benefits that you have not used after that time will be removed from your card. You will get a reminder in the mail before we remove any Summer EBT benefits from your card.

In rare cases, families may get multiple cards if their eligible children are on different cases. If this happens, the benefits cannot be combined or transferred between the different cards.

What you can buy with your benefits

You can use Summer EBT benefits to buy food items, including:

• Breads and cereals.
• Fruits and vegetables.
• Meats, fish, and poultry.
• Dairy products.
• Snack foods.
• Non-alcoholic drinks.
• Seeds and plants to grow food for your family to eat.

You cannot use Summer EBT benefits to buy:

• Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, or tobacco.
• Vitamins, medicines, or supplements.
• Live animals (except shellfish, fish removed from water, and animals slaughtered prior to pick-up from the store).
• Hot foods (food cooked and served hot at the store).
• Food to be eaten in the store.
• Any non-food items.

If you are buying non-allowable items at the same time as you’re buying allowable items, you will need to use another form of payment for the non-allowable items. See a detailed list of items you can and cannot buy with your benefits.

Where you can use your benefits

Summer EBT benefits can be used wherever FoodShare benefits are accepted. This includes most grocery stores, many convenience stores, some farmers markets, and certain online retailers.

How to get help with your card

Call Quest Card Service at 877-415-5164:

• To find out what the balance is for your card.
• To report a lost, stolen, or damaged card.
• To replace your card.

You can learn more about using your card by:

• Reading the Using Your QUEST Card Fact Sheet, P-16088.
• Watching a video: English, Hmong, Russian, Spanish.

Get help with Summer EBT

Get help with questions about Summer EBT by contacting the Summer EBT Support Team at DHSSEBTSupport@dhs.wisconsin.gov or visiting the Summer EBT: Frequently Asked Questions page.