"This investment is good news for hundreds of thousands of kids in America," says Davis.
Contacts: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org
Washington, D.C. – This morning, the Agriculture Subcommittee for Appropriations for the U.S. House of Representatives announced it will invest $50 million in funding for Summer EBT, which provides a monthly benefit on a debit card for low-income families to purchase food and is an effective and efficient way to connect kids to the nutrition they need in the summer. The following is a statement from Share Our Strength’s Senior Vice President Lisa Davis:
"An investment in Summer EBT is good news for hundreds of thousands of kids in our nation who live with the threat of hunger. Summer is the hungriest time of the year for many low-income children and families. Summer EBT provides a modest grocery benefit that helps these families provide consistent nutrition for their kids, especially for those living in rural and hard-to-reach communities who have limited access to the summer meals program. Knowing that summer hunger has long-term consequences for a child’s health, education and well-being, we applaud the committee, Chairman Bishop and Ranking Member Fortenberry for prioritizing and investing in kids so that they can grow up healthy, strong and ready to compete in today’s economy.
And 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 proven to be effective in reducing very low food insecurity among children by 33 percent and helping more kids get the nutrition they need. We urge the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee to match this level of investment in Summer EBT as it develops its FY20 Agriculture Appropriations legislation.”
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But 1 in 6 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