SANTA CRUZ >> A local grocery chain announced it is participating in a program that makes delivery and pickup services available to residents in need.

New Leaf Community Markets is now accepting Electronic Benefits Transfer Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program payments for same-day delivery and pickup services via Instacart, the San Francisco-based grocery service juggernaut. The move was recently approved by the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, the agency that manages the federally-funded food program for low-income individuals and families.

This means that local participants in the program, known as “EBT SNAP,” can use their benefits to arrange same-day delivery or pickup of their groceries from New Leaf’s five locations in Santa Cruz County and Half Moon Bay.

“We are always looking at how we can expand our offerings to the community and make local, organic products more readily available,” said Senior Director of Digital for New Leaf Community Markets Andrew Krysiak in a release. “Working with Instacart, a fellow bay area-based business, to now accept EBT SNAP payment online is a great next step to offering additional options to our customers so we can meet them however and wherever they wish to shop with us.”

Here’s how it works. Participants in the assistance program can shop from New Leaf via the Instacart mobile app or website and, once a profile is created, can enter electronic benefits transfer information as a form of payment. Once shopping is finished and assistance program-eligible items are added to the cart, customers will be able to select how much of their benefits they’d like to allocate to the order at checkout, according to the New Leaf release. Customers will also need a secondary form of payment for non-food items such as taxes, tips and fees per the assistance program guidelines.

Orders can be scheduled days in advance or placed for delivery or pickup in as fast as an hour, according to the release. Delivery is offered throughout Santa Cruz County, Half Moon Bay and the Silver Creek neighborhood in San Jose.

Customers can also enter their ZIP code to determine if they are near another participating retailer. According to Instacart’s nutrition assistance program website at instacart.com/ebt-snap, other participating retailers in the Santa Cruz area include Safeway, Raley’s and Costco.

New Leaf, which opened its doors in Santa Cruz more than 35 years ago, has stores in Aptos, Capitola, downtown Santa Cruz and on the Westside of Santa Cruz. It also has a location in Half Moon Bay. For hours and address information, visit newleaf.com.