Statement attributed to Vince Hall, Chief Government Relations Officer at Feeding America
“As the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, Feeding America applauds the inclusion of investments to help end child hunger in the Build Back Better framework. The White House proposal includes funding for the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT) program, which provides grocery cards to families with children eligible for free and reduced-price schools meals to purchase food during the summer, helping 29 million children, and an expansion of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which will expand free schools meals to nearly nine million additional children. It also continues the recent expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) that makes its full value available to the families of 27 million children who previously earned too little to receive the full benefit. These provisions will help advance the needs of children facing hunger – particularly in communities of color who suffer disproportionately from hunger.
“The pandemic has exacerbated child hunger in our country. In 2020, 15 percent of households with children often did not know where their next meal would come from. These families were nearly two times more likely to face hunger than households without children. The Feeding America nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs have been working overtime to help ensure children in need and their families do not go to bed hungry. However, these vital federal investments are necessary to truly tackle child hunger in our communities. While we are grateful for existing short-term investments in hunger-fighting programs, we know hunger is not a short-term problem. The White House proposal provides a meaningful step toward sustained, long-term solutions to helping vulnerable families have enough to eat.
“Feeding America looks forward to continuing to work with the administration and Congress to advance programs and policies that help ensure no child has to face the devastating impacts of hunger.”
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About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 5.3 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
