IN THIS ISSUE

Legislative Recap

Look What Advocates are Doing for Hunger!

2009 was a banner year for hunger advocacy in America! From coast to coast, Hunger Advocates gave their time and efforts in a big way.  And they paved the way for advocacy to have an even bigger impact in 2010.

Take a look back at 2009:

• In 2009, President Obama approved $1 billion per year for child nutrition programs in his Fiscal Year 2009 budget. He also set a goal of ending child hunger by 2015 – we’re hoping to aid in that effort in 2010!
• In February, the United States Congress enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to stimulate the economy during our severe economic downturn. With the help of Feeding America Hunger Advocates, legislators made the decision to include $150 million in TEFAP funding in the recovery package to provide commodity assistance to food banks.
• During our 2009 Hunger Action Month, Hunger Advocates gave a lot of time to end hunger—and those efforts paid off! During September, there were:
• 20,520 actions completed
• 187,760 minutes spent working in behalf of hunger relief
• 5,599 new Hunger Advocates recruited
• 214 Hunger Champions identified
• In November, Feeding America sent out an urgent call to our Hunger Advocates, to help encourage the White House and Congress to add significant funding for hunger relief programs in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget. Hunger Advocates answered that call with 12,564 letters and 50 phone calls to the President and Congress.

What’s ahead for 2010?

We’ve made much progress in the fight against hunger, but there is still so much to do! Child nutrition programs are set to expire on September 30, 2010, and time is running out if we are to reach the President’s goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015.

While President Obama’s approved $1 billion per year for child nutrition programs is a significant step forward, Feeding America strongly urges the President and Congress to provide at least $1 billion in additional funding for this crucial investment. 

As Congress undertakes Child Nutrition Reauthorization in 2010, Feeding America, and with the help of our Hunger Advocates, will remain actively involved in making sure this vital legislation remains a key priority and receives the support it deserves from our Members of Congress.

Hunger Advocacy

Does My Voice Matter?

Advocating for hunger relief involves many things—communicating with elected officials to make sure they know the public policies you support, helping raise awareness of hunger in your community, recruiting others to support advocacy efforts, and working with local food banks and other advocates to help feed hungry Americans.

One of your most important tools as a Hunger Advocate is your voice—it’s the best tool you have for letting your government leaders know that you want them to support hunger relief efforts, such as emergency food programs and programs that help feed hungry children. The issues that matter to constituents in a legislative district are the things that matter to their Members of Congress. It’s as simple as this—your legislators need to know that hunger relief is important to you!

Advocacy doesn’t take a lot of time or any money—it just takes people who are willing to lend their voices to an important cause. Here’s how it works:  one person speaks out against hunger—that one person tells a few friends, and they tell a few more, and soon it spreads through a neighborhood, a town, and eventually a nation.

The voice that makes hunger relief a top priority in 2010 can be yours!
And you can start by visiting the Feeding America online community.

There are several important things you can do through the Hunger Action Center:

• Contact Congress when urgent action is needed. We make it easy by providing you with addresses, phone numbers, and sample emails.
• Share your personal experiences about hunger as an advocate, a volunteer, or as someone who has experienced hunger firsthand.
• Tell your friends and family about Feeding America and hunger advocacy.

Do online advocacy efforts make a difference? Absolutely! For example, in a recent call to action, more than 12,000 emails were sent to Members of Congress through the Hunger Action Center. That sends a very clear message to Congress about where their constituents stand on hunger!

Hunger Advocates have an exciting opportunity to influence the direction of public policy for the next several years. With hunger on the rise, our work has never been more important. Every voice matters—and when each voice joins in a Hunger Advocates’ chorus, we can really make a difference!

Want to do more? Become a Hunger Champion! Visit the Hunger Action Center to sign up or do more for hunger relief today!

Hunger in America 2010

What Does the Study Mean for Hunger Relief?

Hunger in America 2010 is an extensive nationwide study of hunger and emergency feeding organizations in our country. Upon its release in February, it will be the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind. The data for the study was collected over several months by Feeding America food banks as we surveyed 63,000 charitable hunger-relief agencies and conducted more than 200 face-to-face client interviews.

Through the agency surveys, we were able to analyze the capacity of the charitable food distribution system in America to meet the needs of hungry families and individuals – especially with the ever-changing economy. The client survey data provided important information about needy and hungry people on both national and local levels.  We were also able to gain important client perspectives about their access to federal and state assistance programs, such as SNAP (formerly food stamps) and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). The combined results will provide an in-depth look into the real state of hunger in America.

Feeding America and its member food banks will use the data from this study to highlight hunger in America, improve our hunger relief activities and to make sure these programs adequately meet the needs of the millions of clients we serve each year. 

As we spread the word about the results of the hunger study, Feeding America will join with Hunger Advocates in reaching out to opinion leaders and addressing the needs of the unprecedented number of America’s hungry. Joining together as advocates in the fight against hunger, the tens of thousands of voices behind this study will play a crucial role in putting a face to those in need and broadly communicating about hunger issues and the solutions for which we are advocating.

We also look forward to working with our legislators as we address the need for additional funding for hunger relief programs and the otherwise looming crisis for America’s hungry.
 
Be watching for the results of Hunger in America 2010—coming in February!