"This investment will help as many as 280,000 children get the nutrition they need in the summertime," says Davis.
Contacts: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congress passed an FY20 spending bill that increases funding for Summer EBT demonstration projects by $7 million, bringing the total investment to $35 million. Summer EBT provides low-income families with funds to purchase food for their children during the summer months. The following is a statement from Share Our Strength’s Senior Vice President Lisa Davis.
"We applaud the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for prioritizing and investing in ensuring children have the nutrition they need to grow up healthy and strong.
Summer hunger impacts families across the United States, especially in rural and hard-to-reach communities. Barriers like transportation, weather and bureaucratic red tape mean only about 1 in 7 children who receive free or reduced-price lunch are able to access the summer meals program. Summer EBT helps reach the kids falling through the cracks, allowing families to purchase nutritious food when school is out. This investment in the program will help as many as 280,000 children get the nutrition they need in the summertime.
Summer hunger has long-term consequences for a child’s health, education and well-being, so this increased investment is a wise one. Evidence shows that Summer EBT works. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented the Summer EBT demonstration project in states around the nation; their own evaluations show that is was effective in reducing very low food insecurity among children by 33 percent and helping more kids get the nutrition they need.
Although we had hoped the final bill would match the investment level the House announced earlier this year, we appreciate the leadership of Senators Shelby, Leahy, Hoeven and Merkley, and Reps. Lowey, Granger, Bishop and Fortenberry in making summer hunger a priority. This investment will help the Summer EBT program continue operations in current service areas while also scaling to more communities in need.
As Congress takes up Child Nutrition Reauthorization next year, we look forward to continuing to work with elected leaders from both sides of the aisle to expand upon this progress and close the summer meal gap."
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But 1 in 7 kids will face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger through effective programs that provide kids with the food they need. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org