On June 10, a release event was held for the Stop Child Summer Hunger Act of 2015, introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Susan Davis (D-CA). This Act would amend the National School Lunch Act.
One in five of our nation’s children are food insecure. Federal child nutrition programs have been put in place to help them get healthy food through free and reduced price lunches at school, however there remains a large gap between children who receive meals during the school year and children who receive meals during the summer.
The Stop Child Summer Hunger Act of 2015 would address this gap and would establish a permanent, nationwide summer program providing electronic benefits transfer (EBT) to families with children. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is already successfully providing EBT cards to families, allowing them to buy nutritious food. Implementing a similar program that would give these cards specifically to families with children, who qualify for school meals during the school year, could provide millions of children with the nutrition they need. Low-income children in rural, suburban, and urban areas already lack luxuries and opportunities that other children can take advantage of during the summer months to help them explore and grow. With so much else to overcome, youth should not additionally have to wonder where their food will come from or when their next meal will be. This Act would provide our nation’s youth with their most basic needs, giving them the energy necessary to tackle any other obstacles that comes their way, and we applaud Senator Murray and Representative Davis for introducing it.
We know how to stop child summer hunger. Let’s do it >> http://bit.ly/1I9rDd0 v/ @Campaign4Kids #InvestInKids
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Want to learn more? First Focus Campaign for Children is a bipartisan advocacy organization advocating to make children and families the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. Read more about our work on nutrition.
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