We may be on the downhill slide of summer but you can act today to make sure that kids get the meals they need next summer. While it’s a joyous season for many children, there a million of kids for whom summer is a season of hunger. Only a fraction of kids who need healthy meals during the summer are getting them.
The current summer meals program was created in 1968 to help kids in need get healthy food when school is out. While the intention was great, I think we can agree that a lot has changed since 1968. A lot. What worked then doesn’t work now in many communities.
Enter six senators from both sides of the aisle working to fix that: 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). They recently introduced the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act, and it is hugely important legislation that would be fundamental to ending childhood hunger in America.
The Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act would give states new options to feed children more effectively. With this legislation, as many as 6.5 million more children could have the chance to get the food they need during the summer months.
This legislation would benefit our country on multiple levels. Studies show that ending summer hunger on this scale will have a massive impact on avoidable health care costs, summer learning loss, graduation rates and future economic security.
So what can you do? There are three ways you can act now to end childhood hunger.
Please join me and call, Tweet, and email your Senators today and let them know that you want them to stand up for kids in need by cosponsoring the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act.
Note: I’m honored to be a No Kid Hungry Blogger, and think it’s worth mentioning that I don’t receive anything for posts about ending childhood hunger – it’s just a cause that is near and dear to my heart and a problem that I think we can work together to solve.
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