STATEMENT: Share Our Strength’s Lisa Davis on the Breakdown in Negotiations over the COVID Relief Package

“Hungry children cannot push pause on hunger to wait for Congress to take action,” said Davis. “They need action now.”

 

Contact: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org

10/8/20, WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, negotiations over a new coronavirus relief package to help struggling families in the United States came to an abrupt halt. The following is a statement from Share Our Strength Senior Vice President Lisa Davis about what this means for children and their families.

We are deeply disappointed that negotiations over the coronavirus relief package have come to a halt. More than 14 million children in this country aren’t getting enough to eat. As a nation, we need swift, bipartisan action to ensure they get the food they need to help them survive this national health crisis.

The pandemic has ripped a giant hole in the American economy. Families are facing eviction, unemployment, poverty and hunger at unprecedented rates. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act which recently passed in the House of Representatives provided essential relief that would help families, children and local economies. This bill provides budget relief for schools and childcare providers to continue serving meals. It offers help for restaurants struggling to keep their doors open.  And it gets essential nutrition benefits to parents and caretakers, making sure more kids are able to get the food they need at home.

Hungry children cannot push pause on their hunger while they wait for Congress to help. We need action, and we need it now.

 

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About No Kid Hungry

No child should go hungry in America. But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, 1 in 4 kids could face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty.