Political Quotes

“I urge my fellow members of Congress to vote for H.R. 5012, the Weekends Without Hunger Act, and support the millions of children facing food insecurity. The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a five-year pilot program to provide food commodities to nonprofits, which would, in turn, distribute those goods to children in need before weekends and extended holidays. In short, this program ensures that children do not go hungry when they are not in school. This pilot program is modeled from the successful Food for Kids program developed by the nonprofit Arkansas Rice Depot. The concept for the program originated when a school nurse asked for help because she began seeing hungry students with stomachaches and dizziness. The local food bank began to send school children home with groceries in non-descript backpacks. In 2009, more than 140 Feeding America member food banks operated more than 3,600 BackPack for Kids Programs and served more than 190,000 children. In my hometown, the Cleveland Foodbank adopted the program, BackPack for Kids, in 2005. Each week, food bank volunteers pack six wholesome, child friendly meals per student into plastic bags, and then cases are delivered to partner sites. The Foodbank protects kids' confidentiality by packaging the food in unmarked, non-descript backpacks. This approach is having a profound effect.…”