Amazon and Walmart should end deliver fees and minimum online order requirments for customers who receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrtion Assistance Program, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wrote in a letter released Tuesday.

The call to do so comes amid an uptick in online orders for grocery goods amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

In the letter, sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Walmart CEO Doug McMillion, Gillibrand wrote the fees place an added strain on low-income families.

“The SNAP program provides a critical lifeline for food insecure families, and while Walmart and Amazon have taken the first step in allowing families who rely on SNAP to use their grocery delivery services, it’s crucial that they remove additional financial barriers,” Gillibrand said. “No one should have to worry about affording to feed their families or have to risk their health to get groceries. Eliminating additional costs will make these important delivery services more widely accessible so that seniors and vulnerable New Yorkers can safely keep food on the table throughout this pandemic.”

Ending the fees with the online retailers was backed by Hunger Free America, a New York City-based advocacy group.

“Many leading corporations have already donated very generously to anti-hunger organizations across the country," said the group's CEO Joel Berg. "We hope they can also go the extra mile by waiving food delivery fees for the lowest-income Americans. Given that our organization just found in a  survey that about four in ten American children are now suffering from hunger, struggling Americans need every bit of assistance they can get.”