367 posts categorized "Advocacy"

Federal nutrition programs have continued to be targeted for cuts this Congress.

In March, the House of Representatives voted on a budget resolution that cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) by $133.5 billion – nearly 20 percent over 10 years – and recommended turning the program into a block grant. Today, SNAP automatically covers all eligible families, responding as need rises and falls. Under a block grant, SNAP would give a set amount of money to states every year, which would limit the state’s ability to respond quickly to increases in need.

In addition to the House passed budget cuts, the House Agriculture Committee was instructed to find $33.2 billion in savings from agriculture programs by April 27. They found $36 billion in cuts solely from SNAP. If enacted, this proposal would kick approximately 2 million people off the program, reduce monthly benefits for all participants, and most certainly increase hunger and poverty.

On the Senate side, the Senate Agriculture Committee continued efforts this spring to renew the farm bill. The farm bill, which governs federal farm and food policy – including SNAP – presents an opportunity to continue, alter, or discontinue federal farm and nutrition programs. As the largest share of agricultural spending, SNAP has been targeted for cuts in this process. The Senate version of the Farm Bill – the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 – was passed out of committee by a bipartisan vote of 16-5 on April 26. It included $4.3 billion in cuts to nutrition programs. This cut would lead to a drop in SNAP benefits for at least 500,000 SNAP households in 14 states and the District of Columbia.

The House Agriculture Committee continues with farm bill hearings in preparation for releasing their own bill this year. SNAP is expected to continue being targeted for cuts.

Furthermore, the House and Senate Appropriations Committee have begun work on their annual spending bills. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is funded through this process. While the Senate Appropriations Committee has provided WIC with $7.041 billion – enough to cover current and projected caseload – this is only the first step in the funding process. As Congress continues searching for savings, WIC remains at risk.

 Photo caption: (From left) Kate Hagen, Beth and John Lepinski, Laura Gerstl, Todd Post prepare to visit Congressional representatives during Lobby Day at Bread for the World's Gathering 2011 Tuesday, June 14. Photo by William Johnson.

Christine Meléndez Ashley is policy analyst at Bread for the World.

+Tell your member of Congress to protect funding for programs that help poor and hungry people!

Photo by Flickr user silent shot

The dramatic cuts of $169 billion to SNAP proposed this year in the U.S. House would have a devastating impact on all of our congregations’ efforts to address increasing need. 

Every church across America would need to come up with, on average, an extra $50,000 dedicated to feeding people — every year for the next 10 years — to make up for these cuts.

Sign our petition now to say feeding hungry people is not the sole responsibility of churches.  Here’s what a few people who have already signed the petition shared with us:

• “My church is situated in a community of high need in Los Angeles County. Our church's Food Pantry already serves over 400 people per week out of a garage. We are already at the breaking point! The need is real and raw. We absolutely cannot do this without the help of our elected leaders!”
      — Daniel in Bellflower, CA

• “Our area churches are already collecting and handing out food in massive amounts simply to SUPPLEMENT those on SNAP and yet the shelves run empty time and time again. This is not a time for cutting programs that affect our most vulnerable, but a time to stand in solidarity with them.”
      — Katherine in Arlington, VA

• "2,000 folks per month pass through one of our ministries in Gary, IN, homeless and without food. This would be devastating both to them and to us. We are barely making it now.”
      — Bob in Donaldson, IN

We have to tell Congress — and tell them again and again — that they must create a circle of protection around programs that are vital to hungry and poor people. And then we must pray hard that they will listen to their conscience as upright, moral persons of faith.

Thank you for your voice!

Margaret M. Kimmins, OSF is a Catholic Sister working at Bread for the World, and president of the Franciscan Action Network.

+Tell Congress to protect funding for programs such as SNAP. Sign the petition today!

Photo by Flickr user by visual.dichotomy

Last week, we shared with you that the House of Representatives just proposed to cut more than $169 billion from SNAP, formerly the food stamps program. Some representatives argued that feeding hungry people is really the work of the churches.

These representatives are essentially saying that on average every church across America — big, small, and tiny — needs to come up with an extra $50,000 dedicated to feeding people — every year for the next 10 years — to make up for these cuts. Bread for the World launched a petition and asked everyone to sign on and tell Congress that churches cannot be the only ones responsible for feeding hungry people.

Thousands of people signed the petition, and many shared their own stories and comments. Here are comments that some of you left:

"A good number of our students at Ancilla College have an expected family contribution (EFC) of $0.00.  Some of them rely on SNAP for food for themselves and sometimes for their families (non-traditional students).  In their effort to better themselves and thus be better prepared to make contributions to society [they] need the support of SNAP." --Carleen from Donadlson, IN

"Alfred Parish UCC is already sending a lot of food through 2 different feeding programs and providing a monthly free meal to people who come through the doors.  We don't have the means to 'pick up' and do the kind of work that our Federal Government can do.  The SNAP Program must be continued." --Bruce from Alfred, ME

"As a small church in the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, we are inundated with needs all around us. The proposed cost is more than we pay our full-time minister for compensation, the only full-time staff we have. We contribute to multiple charities that distribute food to those who are in need in order to insure the best stewardship of our resources. And, yet, we are still not able to meet all of the needs, these cuts will overwhelm us." --Sarah from Arlington, TX

"As program manager of the Northeast Emergency Food Program of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, we serve 11,000 unduplicated individuals each year.  We do so through a wonderful partnership of congregations, businesses, individuals, other nonprofits, and the government.  In the past three years, the number of our clients has increased by over 40%.  There is no way we can make up for either the loss of food provided by the USDA or the influx of clients who would lose benefits such as SNAP.  And there is no way our church partners could fill the gap." --Howard from Portland, OR

"Feeding the hungry is not a choice -- it is a moral imperative. But the food pantries and soup kitchens in this area funded by the generosity of church members already are serving those in need at capacity and beyond in these tough economic times.  We are doing our part.  We expect that our government will do the same." --Alexandra from Troy, NY

"It is a sign of a healthy country when the government cares for its poor.  It is a sign of an abuse of power when the government determines that only the religious communities are responsible for caring for its poor.  The move to cut billions from funding that will care for the poor will show the world that the leaders of the US care only about power, dominance and control.  We stand at risk of losing our way, our heart, our very notion that all are created equal and ought to have equal access to meeting basic needs." --Jan from Raleigh, NC

Thanks to everyone who signed this petition -- and if you haven't yet, join your voice with thousands of other people of faith who believe that we must all work together to end hunger.

SIGN THE PETITION TODAY!

Jeannie Choi is associate editor at Bread for the World.

The circle of protection isn’t just a symbol for retired Pastor Jim Anderson; it is a promise to a friend who is an HIV positive AIDS orphan living a continent away. Now, the circle of protection is my promise too.

Earlier this year, Christians in Portland, OR, braved a rainy day to show support for the circle of protection.  Pastor Anderson carried a sign that had a circle around a picture of a young boy from Tanzania named Eliya. 

The day before Portland's Offering of Letters workshop, I received an email from Jim. He said he was extremely jet lagged, having just returned from Tanzania, but he would like a minute to address our members.

Jim told us the story of Eliya.  Globally funded anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines and nutritious supplements such as plumpy nut have saved Eliya’s life.  He told us about the compassionate care-givers in a Catholic-run program helping children like Eliya.  From them he learned that his own tax dollars helped provide global funds keeping these children alive and flourishing.  He also learned that potential cuts were very worrisome for the care givers who saw the lives that were daily affected.  In his blog post, Jim writes,

“I was thrilled to be able to assure Father Vincent that he did not battle alone. In America there are battalions of caring people who write letters to their senators and representatives, urging that they work to maintain a circle of protection around programs that make up the U.S. contribution to poverty-focused development assistance, including the Global Fund, PEPFAR, and other programs aimed at reduction of disease, malnutrition, and poverty.”

The Senate Agriculture Committee considers amendments this week on food aid in the Farm Bill.   Now Eliya is in my circle thanks to Pastor Jim, and I will be advocating for a circle of protection around lifesaving food aid.  If you have a member of Congress on the Committee, your voice is particularly important, so please take three minutes to call your member for Elyia or another picture and another story in your circle.

Call your member of Congress at 1-800-326-4941, or click here to send them a quick email.

Robin Stephenson is a regional organizer at Bread for the World.

Photo caption: Eliya (left) and Rev. Jim Anderson (right) sit together in Dodoma, Tanzania.

+Learn more about our mini-campaign on international food aid programs!

Read Luke 5:17-20. This Gospel story offers a vivid image of group members working together to help their friend. God calls us into such community.

Genesis makes it clear from the beginning of creation that God intends for us to have helpers. God says of Adam, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). The biblical story continues as a description of the relationship between God and the people of God. It is a community, not an individual, who is called to the Promised Land. And God blesses community.

In Matthew, Jesus promises the disciples, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there amI in the midst of them.” In the community described in our passage, a collection of people combined their resources and skills to get the paralytic man to the place where he could receive what he needed.

Consider the many gifts people in the story likely offered: resources such as a ladder and tools to get through the roof, creativity, strength to carry the man, and even the willingness of the homeowner to have a hole put in the roof.

After the group achieved its goal, Jesus recognized their faith, not simply the faith of the paralytic. And so it is with our nations. When we in the United States and other countries combine our resources, we can help people around the world who do not have enough food.

Molly Marsh is managing editor at Bread for the World.

Photo caption: Martha Togdbba of Kpaytno, Liberia, grows vegetables, including tomatoes and chili peppers. She irrigates her small farm with water from a nearby stream that she walks back and forth to with a watering can. Photo by Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World.

+Learn more about our mini-campaign on international food aid programs!

Amelia Kegan (left) and Sister Mary Margaret Kimmins (right) together at the Bread for the World Washington, DC office. Photo by Jeannie Choi.

At Bread for the World, we employ a diverse group of individuals from various backgrounds. Often, this creates cause for robust dialogue on current events. We thought we’d let you  peek into one of these very exchanges – this time between Amelia Kegan, senior policy analyst in our government relations department, and Sister Margaret Mary Kimmins, OSF who manages Bread’s relations with Catholic churches in our church relations department. The two discussed the recent comments made by Rep. Paul Ryan about the House proposed budget, Catholic social teaching, and its implications on U.S. budget policy.

Check out their exchange below, and weigh in with your own thoughts in the comments section!

Amelia: Last month, the House of Representatives passed a budget resolution, and its author, Congressman Ryan, recently spoke about how that budget fits with Catholic social teaching. At Bread, we’ve been pretty critical of that budget because it has some fairly extreme cuts to programs to poor and vulnerable populations and fails to create a circle of protection around those programs. Sister Margaret, how does Catholic social teaching inform your view of this budget? How and why is it different from Chairman Ryan’s view?

Sister Margaret Mary: Catholic social teaching is integral to how we act on our values and on our mission. One of the basic principles of Catholic social teaching is the principle of human dignity. Every person, regardless of race, sex, age, religion, health, or other differences is worthy of respect. It’s not what you do or what you have that establishes this respect. It’s simply by being human that establishes this dignity. It’s the Catholic view that human dignity is not a means. It’s always an end. So we don’t separate any group from what they need to live.

Amelia: So, how does the House proposed budget violate some of the basic concepts of Catholic social teaching?

Sister Margaret Mary: There are two significant pieces of Catholic social teaching: charity and justice. Everyone is deserving of both. In the House passed budget, it explains the concept of charity without the concept of justice. Neither one — charity or justice — is the total responsibility of the church. This budget seems to put everything of the charity on the churches.

Congressman Ryan talks about subsidiarity. Subsidiarity is certainly a part of Catholic social teaching that teaches us how we need to act. But solidarity is being at one with all of humanity, and needs to go hand-in-hand with Catholic social teaching. That’s the principle of human equality, and is part of what we teach our children—to be fair.

Amelia: Should our governmental leaders take cues from Catholic Social teaching when they are not even Catholics?

Sister Margaret Mary: Catholic social teaching is for everyone. It comes from scripture and tradition, but it’s broader than that. Fairness and human dignity are values that everyone has; they’re not exclusively Catholic. Catholic social teaching shows us that each one of us is sacred. We carry the spirit of Jesus within us. The principle of the common good requires establishing social structures that preserve the good of the community. Absence of any concern for or sensitivity of the common good is a sure sign of a society in need of help.

Some in Congress talk about how programs like SNAP (formerly food stamps), unemployment insurance, the EITC, and WIC other similar programs create government dependence, but a community is interdependent. We’re not looking at independence or dependence. We’re related to each other and interdependent in the human community. In this budget, the House of Representatives seems to be legislating for some small percentage of abuse. We shouldn’t be legislating for abuse; it’s morally wrong. We should be legislating for dignity.

Amelia: At Bread, we recognize that our long-term deficit situation is of serious concern. Congress must put the country on a fiscally sustainable path. Those in Congress who support the House passed budget argue that these cuts are necessary to address our deficits, while we at Bread have argued for a more balanced approach. What does the Catholic faith have to teach us about these types of decisions?

Sister Margaret Mary: Catholic Social teaching includes the principle of preferential treatment for the poor and vulnerable, and we must adhere to that principle if the good of all is to prevail. We are called to political responsibility as faithful citizens.

What do you think about these decisions, Amelia?

Amelia: Most economists and most in Congress agree about the need to address our long-term deficits and debt and that doing so will require some very tough decisions. However, whether to cut programs for the poor should not be a tough decision. I’m mystified that we’re even having these conversations about whether we should cut SNAP by $133 billion and potentially throw 8 to 10 million people off the program. I’m amazed that when the House Agriculture Committee is asked to find an additional $33 billion in savings, they take every penny of it from SNAP. I’m astounded that the Ways and Means Committee just passed recommendations that would mean one million families could no longer claim the Child Tax Credit, affecting millions of children primarily in low-income immigrant families. And we’re hearing all of these attacks upon poor and vulnerable families struggling to put food on the table at a time when we have 2.8 million children living on less than $2 a day. I often ask myself, how can this be? How can we amplify the level of outrage about the fact that these cuts are even on the table?

Sister Margaret Mary: I agree with you. I would like Congress to take 30 minutes or an hour of quiet and imagine having little or no access to food or health care or transportation, education, housing. If you don’t have access to what you need to live in dignity and if you don’t have access to the funds that enable you to live, it’s frightening. What we’re lacking is imagination to put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes. How many people have said to members of Congress, this is not right? We have a poverty of imagination. We have to act together in this. We have to act together in faith.

Amelia: Thanks for this conversation, Sister Margaret.

Sister Margaret Mary: My pleasure!

Amelia Kegan is senior policy advisor at Bread for the World, and Sister Margaret Mary Kimmins, OSF is Catholic Church relations person at Bread for the World.

Shelves of food at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, DC. Photo by Crista Friedli.

Are the food lines at your local food pantry long? They could be getting a lot longer.

The House of Representatives just proposed to cut more than $169 billion from SNAP, formerly the food stamps program. Some representatives argued that feeding hungry people is really the work of the churches.

These representatives are essentially saying that every church across America — big, small, and tiny — needs to come up with an extra $50,000 dedicated to feeding people — every year for the next 10 years — to make up for these cuts. The Hartford Institute for Religion and Research estimates there are 335,000 religious congregations in the United States. If the proposals by the House of Representatives to cut SNAP by $133.5 billion and $36 billion are enacted, each congregation will have to spend approximately $50,000 to feed those who would see a reduction or loss of benefits.

I am furious!

Join me in telling Congress that this is outrageous. Sign our petition to say feeding hungry people is not the sole responsibility of churches.

Our challenge is to get 1,000 pastors and religious leaders to say "No" to the presumption by Congress that hunger is really the sole responsibility of the churches.

Churches are already responding to unprecedented need. But this burden is more than we can bear, and it's our poorest and most vulnerable people who will be harmed.

Let your members of Congress know that you and your faith community won’t stand for this injustice. 

More than 46 million Americans depend on SNAP to help put food on their tables every day. SNAP has prevented our nation’s economic crisis from turning into a hunger crisis. Congress must not turn its back on our nation's commitment to protect vulnerable people from hunger.  

Sign the petition now to let Congress know you and your faith community won’t stand for the long lines of hungry people this proposal will create.  

Rev. Gary Cook is director of government relations at Bread for the World.

For more than 50 years, the United States has played an important role in alleviating global malnutrition and hunger, especially during emergencies.

This is done through a handful of international food aid programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Despite the tremendous need around the world — including the ongoing famine in the Horn of Africa — Congress is considering deep cuts to these programs. We are particularly concerned about:

The Food for Peace Program or P.L. 480 represents the majority of food aid the U.S. provides to meet emergency and humanitarian needs in response to malnutrition, famine, natural disaster, civil strife, and other emergencies.

• In fiscal year 2010, the United States spent about $1.5 billion on emergency food aid that benefitted about 46.5 million people in poor countries.
• The World Bank estimates that an additional 44 million people have been pushed into poverty since mid-2010 as a result of the recent rise in food pricess
• In the world’s poorest countries, families spend between 60 and 80 percent of their income on food, which means that continued increases in prices hit the world’s poorest people the hardest.

The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program provides U.S. agricultural commodities and financial and technical assistance to carry out school feeding programs. The program also supports maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs.

• With funding of about $200 million in 2010, McGovern-Dole served approximately 5 million beneficiaries in 28 countries.
• For most schoolchildren, the one meal they get through this program is often the only meal they get all day.
• Where school meal programs are offered, children stay in school longer and their academic performance improves. Children who are hungry have a difficult time concentrating in school.
• In-school feeding and take-home rations improve school enrollment for girls. Educating girls in developing countries is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

What's Our Message?

Create a circle of protection around funding for international food aid programs that serve as the greatest — and often only—line of defense between millions of families and hunger.

Molly Marsh is managing editor at Bread for the World.

Photo caption: Kaltoum Adam Imam with one of her five children collects millet in a land rented by a community leader in Saluma Area, near El Fasher (North Darfur). UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran.

+Learn more about our mini-campaign on international food aid programs!

Bread for the World members in Albuquerque, NM, are extremely proud because one of our own, Ellen Buelow, was recognized by Catholic Charities USA as 2012 National Volunteer of the Year this week. 

She earned this award because of her dedication to improve the lives of refugees, a ministry that she began in 2007 as an ESL (English as a Second Language) tutor for Mexican immigrants for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM. 

She deepened her involvement with refugees through Catholic Charities' Refugee Resettlement and Support program.  In 2011, she help found the Conversation Partners program, which provides an additional, informal learning environment for refugees enrolled in ESL classes; participants are able to practice conversational English in small group settings.

"Ellen is an outstanding volunteer and a fine example of the difference that people can make in the lives of their neighbors," said Jim Gannon, CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. "Without volunteers like Ellen, we could not meet the needs of the thousands who call on us."

Buelow is extremely proud of how her work has made a profound difference in the lives of many refugees. "Being in direct service to refugees is what keeps me volunteering. I love teaching, and I love being around them. Hands on direct service within Catholic Charities  is an act of charity," she said.

But Buelow also  believes in the big picture, particularly on the connections between  direct service and legislative advocacy.  Her work with refugees has put her in close contact with some of the most vulnerable members of society.  Many of these refugees have fled violence, conflict and extreme poverty. 

This direct contact has given her a unique perspective on the value of the federal foreign-assistance programs, which are facing severe funding cuts in Congress. "Through direct hands-on experience, I can share why we need to stop these cuts," said Buelow, who has been one of the principal organizers of the Offering of Letters at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish.  The letter-writing weekends, she said, help parishioners understand how they can make a difference in addressing domestic and global poverty.  "Advocacy through Bread for the World reaches out to a  broader group of parishioners," she said.  

This year, Buelow and the social justice committee at her parish recruited the JustFaith class to help staff the letter-writing tables.

But her passion goes beyond pen and paper.  At a local meeting at a grocery store, she has urged Rep. Martin Heinrich to support foreign aid reform, and she has attended local meetings with the staffs of Rep. Heinrich, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, and Sen. Tom Udall. 

Additionally, she was part of a group of local Bread members who met with five people who had declared their candidacy for the soon-to-be-open seat in the First Congressional District.  

At a meeting with one of the candidates, State Sen. Eric Griego, she stressed the importance of protecting tax credits for the poor. "When we worked for the Earned Income Tax Credit, that really impacted a lot of families at Holy Rosary (Catholic Parish)," she said in a meeting with state Sen. Eric Griego, a candidate for the open seat in the First Congressional District. 

Ellen is also very humble about receiving the Catholic Charities award. She was very impressed by the other four finalists, all of which would have been worthy of recognition for their work.  "God has his reasons, so I have to believe there's a reason for this award. As we say in Bread for the World, "Be a voice for those who have no voice!"

Photo caption: Ellen Buelow (right) speaks with Adolphe Pierre-Louis (left), a native of Haiti who was a speaker at a New Mexico Offering of Letters workshop in 2011.

 Carlos Navarro is an activist with Bread for the World.

Hunger is a no-brainer. I’d be willing to bet that the majority of Americans believe no child should go to bed hungry. So then why is it the case that nearly one-in-four children go hungry in the United States?

I’m convinced that the reason so many members of Congress are currently proposing to cut programs like SNAP by more than $33 billion is because Americans and their Representatives don’t know enough about these life-saving programs. Instead, they’ve bought into the myths. We’ve all heard the myths: “SNAP is full of fraud," or, “Funding for foreign assistance contributed to our national deficit.” These false statements are spreading like wildfire at a time when Congress is desperate to find places to cut in the budget.  So, one really effective tool for expanding the circle of protection? Set people’s facts straight.

As activists it’s our job to dispel the myths and spread the truth about programs for poor and hungry people. As you engage your local churches, campuses, and communities on speaking up to protect these programs, one of the most effective approaches you can take is to spread awareness that these programs are doing a lot to end hunger.

Take the Tax Credit Mini Campaign, for example. These tax credits lift millions of people out of poverty each year. Yet some people hear “tax credits” and automatically think the worst.

Myth #1: “Tax credits have nothing to do with ending hunger.”

Ending hunger depends on increasing income for families who struggle to cover their household expenses. The tax system can help do just that. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is an efficient, proven, well-targeted way to add resources for low-income working families.

Myth #2: “Taxes are too partisan a topic to be talking about. Tax credit programs will just create more partisan division in Congress.” 

The EITC and CTC have a long history of bipartisan support. The EITC was enacted under President Ford and expanded under Presidents Reagan, Clinton, Bush, and Obama. Conservatives like the EITC and CTC because they provide a clear incentive for people to work. Liberals like it because it is less bureaucratic than other anti-poverty programs, and it restores some fairness to the tax code. In an era of heightened partisanship, these tax credits are something everyone can support.

Myth #3: “Low-income people don’t pay taxes”

I heard this one straight from Senator Scott Brown’s mouth back in 2010 while on a visit to his office to talk about hunger and poverty. First, all Americans pay taxes. While some individuals do not pay income taxes, they still pay plenty in federal payroll taxes, sales tax, and other federal, state, and local taxes. The one-fifth of taxpayers with the lowest incomes pay 12.4 percent of their income in state and local taxes, which is significantly more than the rate that the top 1 percent of taxpayers pay, which is 8.4 percent. The EITC and CTC help offset this burden for many low-income working families.

Myth #4: “Tax credits encourage dependency”

Only people who are working can receive the EITC and CTC. They encourage work because the more money you make, the larger the credit you receive based on marital status and number of children, up to a certain point. A majority of EITC filers receive the credit for only one or two years before moving into jobs with higher earnings. They end up paying back more in federal taxes than they received in benefits over their lifetimes. The EITC is the most effective anti-poverty program in the country, lifting more people out of poverty than any other program.

Myth #5: "Low-income people will just use their tax credit on frivolous purchases."

While it’s true that we can’t control how people spend their tax benefits, the reality is that low-income families run out of money before they’re able to address all of their needs. Research shows that about half of EITC benefits are used for long-term investments such as improving housing, transportation, or paying tuition. The other half is spent on purchases to meet immediate needs such as food, clothing, or catching up on rent and utilities. Bread for the World is looking to increase options for low-income families by increasing their resources.

With so much misinformation out there, it’s no wonder people are skeptical. But as hunger advocates, we know better than to believe these myths. As you and your organization participate in this year’s Offering of Letters, spreading the facts about these anti-hunger programs will be key to getting people engaged. Whether it’s tax credits, domestic nutrition programs, foreign assistance, or international food aid, these programs work. The sooner Americans know that, the sooner we can stop worrying about these programs being cut.

Jen Fraser is a Regional Organizer at Bread for the World.

+Learn more about our mini-campaign on tax credits for low-income families.