New Muppet Hits 'Sesame Street' To Raise Hunger Awareness (VIDEO)

New Muppet Hits 'Sesame Street' To Raise Hunger Awareness

In the past, "Sesame Street" has tackled HIV-AIDS with the muppet Kami and provoked musings on Bert and Ernie's sexual orientation. Now, the show explores another hot-button topic: hunger.

This Sunday, "Sesame Street" will introduce Lily, a 7-year-old girl who is food insecure. Lily doesn't know where her next meal will come from, representing the one in four children who are food insecure, according to the USDA.

PBS will air the special "Growing Hope Against Hunger" Sunday, October 9 at 7 p.m. CST. The goal is to show children who are food insecure that they aren't alone, according to a PBS press release.

Lily will meet Elmo and Grover, along with Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams Paisley, at a food drive and a local community garden, according to the release.

Sesame Street Workshop, the nonprofit producer of the show, was deliberate in making Lily's character realistic. For example, she looks down at the ground instead of being assertive when speaking to other characters, the New York Times reports.

"She wants to talk about this topic," Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop's senior vice president for outreach and educational practices, told the Times, "because she knows it will help many other families and children, but it isn't an easy topic to talk about in the first place."

Sesame Street recently launched the series "Food for Thought: Eating Well on a Budget" as a way to help fight childhood obesity as well as hunger.

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