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Help Ozarks Food Harvest provide more meals to children this year

Help Ozarks Food Harvest provide more meals to children this year

October 1, 2021 in Charlie's Corner Harvest Time Newsletter

Improving federal child nutrition programs is one of the best ways to ensure children don’t go to bed hungry. This is important as an estimated 219,000 Missouri children face hunger in 2021.

Improving federal child nutrition programs is one of the best ways to ensure children don’t go to bed hungry. This is important as an estimated 219,000 Missouri children face hunger in 2021.

In the past year, Ozarks Food Harvest’s federal child nutrition programs like the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helped meet the increased demand for food when children were out of school. The Food Bank partners with more than 25 CACFP and SFSP sites to provide meals to children after school and during the summer. Now, they need your help to continue this work.

During the height of the pandemic, the USDA granted temporary waivers for child nutrition programs that allowed parents to pick up meals to bring home to children instead of having to eat them at a program site. This simple flexibility helped Missouri food banks feed more children than ever before. Through CACFP and SFSP, more than 61 million meals were provided to children and adults in Missouri in 2020. That’s nearly 20 million more meals than distributed in 2019.

The staff at Ozarks Food Harvest shared an important story with me from a client named Tammy. Tammy is a grandparent trying to feed three grandchildren.

“I have inherited my three grandchildren recently and all of a sudden I have three more mouths to feed.” Tammy told them. “Even when you are working, with three kids in the house, it doesn’t take long for it to all add up. Especially now with the prices of everything going up.”

Maintaining federal child nutrition program flexibility will help grandparents like Tammy not have to worry about how they’re going to feed their grandchildren. It will especially help children who need more reliable food access than just school breakfast and lunch.

This year, our legislators will debate the Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) bill that provides funding for the CACFP and SFSP programs. I need your help to improve child nutrition programs through the CNR bill by urging Congress to allow flexibility for off-site meal consumption in 2022. This would remove barriers that prevent children from accessing meals and set them on the right path for their future.

I urge you to call or email Sen. Roy Blunt, Sen. Josh Hawley and Rep. Billy Long (see website information below) and let them know how these programs benefit Missouri’s children. With your help, we can continue Ozarks Food Harvest’s mission to Transform Hunger into Hope.

Thank you to everyone who helps support Ozarks Food Harvest. If you are able, please consider making a gift to support children served by The Food Bank or consider signing up as a volunteer at ozarksfoodharvest.org/volunteer.
Sen. Roy Blunt: blunt.senate.gov
Sen. Josh Hawley: hawley.senate.gov
Rep. Billy Long: long.house.gov