643,000 children in Illinois are food insecure according to Bob Dolgan of Illinois No Kid Hungry. The Greater Chicago Food Depository provided 67 millions pounds of food in response to this need in Chicago last year. You have a chance right now in 2 minutes to make a difference in childhood hunger in Chicago and that is by calling, tweeting, emailing or going directly to this link to contact your Senator and ask them to co-sponsor the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act that was introduced into the Senate August 5.
The Hunger Free Summer for Kids Act modernizes summer meal programs so that all of that red tape you may have heard so much about - antiquated rules around summer feeding sites, not permitting mobile food delivery, etc - gets removed in one fell swoop. This bill has been Share Our Strength and No Kid Hungry's greatest wish. The fact it has bi-partisan support is proof this issue is critical for all Americans. In the classic economics tradeoff guns versus butter, this legislation is one way for you to put your vote on better food as an answer to violence in stressed neighborhoods in Chicago rather than letting guns win.
On Wednesday, August 5, Sens. John Boozman (R, AR), Mitch McConnell (R, KY), Michael Bennet (D, CO), Sherrod Brown (D, OH) Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Mark Kirk (R, IL) introduced the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act, a bill which could end hunger for millions of children during the summer months.
This is a critical moment. This legislation is a momentous step forward in their work to end childhood hunger. With these improvements, as many as 6.5 million more children could have the opportunity to get the food they need during the summer months. Share Our Strength has been leading the charge in advocating for critical changes to the summer meals program, which they believe are fundamental to ending childhood hunger in America faster and on a larger scale than ever before. It is urgent that you act now to build support in the Senate for this legislation; hungry children cannot afford to wait five more years until the next reauthorization to get a summer meal.
In a nutshell, the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act would give states more options to reach hungry kids, especially in hard-to-reach regions, like rural areas or communities currently ineligible to host summer sites. Proven options like meal delivery or a monthly grocery credit would allow states to reach more children effectively and efficiently with the food they need during the summer months. This bill does this while protecting and maintaining the work the No Kid Hungry campaign has done to increase the number of summer meal sites across the country. (Here is a look at specific policies within the bill.)
Success is close, but in order for this to become part of the law this September, it must have strong support in the Senate. The time to act is now. Please contact your Senators today to ask them to cosponsor this legislation. Sometimes the smallest of things make the biggest difference, clinking on these links to support this legislation is one of them.