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No Kid Hungry Blog

Last Chance for Child Nutrition Reauthorization! Call Your Congressmen Now!

Posted by Michael McKenna on Tuesday, November 30, 2010

UPDATE:

Following debate on Wednesday, the House delayed a vote on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act until the afternoon of Thursday, December 2. The minority introduced a “Motion to Recommit,” which is a procedural move that would send the bill back to committee. In other words, it would kill the bill because the legislative process would have to start all over again.

There’s still time to contact your members of Congress and express how important passage of this bill is to you. Tell your representatives, “Vote NO on the Motion to Recommit and vote YES on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act”. Let’s get this bill to the President’s desk!

Here’s the original post with details on how to contact your Representatives:

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives is likely to vote on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the important piece of legislation that authorizes funding for and amends policy for a whole range of nutrition programs that help America’s hungry kids. If you’ve been following the blog or caught any of the great coverage of Jeff Bridges and Billy Shore around the launch of No Kid Hungry, then you know how important this bill is to the work of Share Our Strength!

More importantly, the bill matters to the over 17 million kids living in households that don’t know from where there next meal is coming. And it matters enormously to the millions of children who depend on school breakfasts and school lunches, summer meals, and after-school snacks to help keep them well-nourished.

So we humbly request that you add one more item to your holiday to-do list. It’s as American as apple pie and as old as the Constitution. Contact your members of Congress and let your voice be heard on behalf of America’s voiceless children.

Here are two easy ways to do it:

Option 1: Visit http://www.change.org/shareourstrength/petitions/view/tellthe111thcongresstopassastrongchildnutritionbill_now and sign up for the petition Share Our Strength started, which will automatically generate a letter to your representative!

Option 2: Call your representative. (You can find your member of congress’ office number by entering your zip code at www.congress.org).

Here’s an easy script to follow:

• When your congressional office answers, introduce yourself and ask to speak to the legislative aide who covers the child nutrition bill.
• Explain why you care about this bill in a few sentences. Are you a parent, chef, nutritionist, educator, or health professional?
• Say, “I am a constituent of this district and I expect Representative __ to vote yes on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.”
• Thank the staff member for his or her time.

This Wednesday, Congress has a critical opportunity to invest in nutrition programs that will help fight hunger and obesity for the youngest generation, which will have important benefits for their health and education, not to mention for America’s future economic competitiveness. But ultimately, voting for a bill that feeds the hungry is fundamentally the right thing to do.

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November 30, 2010 | 5 comment(s) | Tags: Child Nutrition Reauthorization, no kid hungry, politics