71% of US supports food for kids, will Congress?

Posted March 10th, 2010 by Sarah Francis

Nearly 17 million U.S. children (almost 1 out of every 4 children) faced hunger at some point last year.

That is a staggering statistic. But for MomsRising member Yvonne, it’s much more personal:

“My sister, the mother of 2 preschoolers, has track marks up and down her arms. Last July both she and her husband lost their jobs. Although they applied for every job they saw, she didn’t find a job until late November–and then only a part-time one. My brother-in-law still hasn’t found one. The track marks? My sister, my wonderful sister, gives plasma several times a week, earning $25 each time, in order to feed her family.”

We can’t let families like Yvonne’s face this recession alone.

Will you help by asking Congress and the President to make the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act a top priority today? http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1018

The Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act provides funding to ensure that low-income children have access to healthy and nutritious foods. It funds programs like the National School Lunch Program, which guarantees millions of low-income children a healthy lunch during their school day, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) which provides access to nutritious foods to low-income pregnant women, new mothers, infants and young children. In today’s economy more and more families rely on school lunches and WIC as their only source of nutritious food.

By law, Congress has got to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act every 5 years. We need to make sure the Child Nutrition Act doesn’t expire when families need it most!

Families across this country depend on the Child Nutrition Act programs. A whopping 71 percent of Americans even support increasing funding for the Child Nutrition Act by $1 billion.[3] So now we’ve got to make sure Congress and the President act quickly to secure the funds needed so these key programs will reach millions of children and families in time for the 2010-2011 school year.

Please take a moment to remind Congress and the President that families like Yvonne’s are depending on them:
http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1018

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Posted Under: E: Excellent Childcare T: TV & After-School Programs

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2 Comments

March 10, 2010 at 6:29 pm by Juana Lara

I’m going to tell my story in a short way, I lost my job last year(Aug.).I apply for the unemployment and I was getting food stamps.Anyway before this happened, well when I went to see if I could have a little raise on my food stamps, got the hit of my life when the DHS office told me that one of my kids was not with me.So they did big problems to me to the point that they cancel my son’s medical card and stop depositing credits to my link card.In the months that followed all of this ordeal, I pass a supper horrific thanks giving because I didn’t have no money, no food and only 4 eggs.To this day I’m still fighting with them to see if I can qualify to an increase of my benefits.I just hope Mr. president would at least see all of these story’s of people like me that I’m struggling to provided for my kids and can’t do it.My latest hit now is that my unemployment benefits are exhausted.I hope they extended this weeks more but for me,now,is that I try to find a job as fast I can. Thanks for all of you that help us being heard at Congress with all of this correctable bureaucratic burdens that we have. Sincerely

Juana O. Lara

[Reply]

Sarah Francis Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 8:06 pm

@Juana Lara, Hi Juana– thanks for sharing your story. We’re happy to create a space where all of our voices can be heard!

[Reply]

71% of US supports food for kids, will Congress?

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