Sister Simone Campbell Talks SNAP at DNC

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a national Catholic social justice lobby, speaks at the "Nuns on the Bus" tour stop on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Monday, July 2, 2012. (Photo by Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)

By Sarah Godfrey

In July, Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, talked to Breadblog about this summer's two-week "Nuns on the Bus" tour, during which a group of nuns traveled the country to protest budget cuts that would negatively affect poor and hungry people. Campbell talked about meeting a man from Milwaukee, WI, named Billy, who was forced to choose between feeding his children or keeping a roof over their heads.

Last night, Campbell shared Billy's story at the Democratic National Convention.

Campbell, who has been vocally opposed to cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), said that working families such as Billy's are relying on such federal nutrition programs to carry them through the current economic recession.

Addressing the DNC last night, she said, "In Milwaukee, I met Billy and his wife and two boys at St. Benedict's dining room. Billy's work hours were cut back in the recession. Billy is taking responsibility for himself and his family, but right now without food stamps, he and his wife could not put food on their family table. We all share responsibility for creating an economy where parents with jobs earn enough to take care of their families."

Campbell also said that faith "strongly affirms that we are all responsible for one another."

"We care for the 100 percent, and that will secure the blessings of liberty for our nation," she said.

Watch Sister Campbell's speech in its entirety:

Sarah Godfrey is associate online editor at Bread for the World.