Tomorrow is Hunger Action Day!
We’re joining with the Worcester County Food Bank and other organizations across the country to call on everyone to take action! Below is the full text of the Action Alert sent out by Liz Sheehan Castro, advocacy director at WCFB. It lists several actions you can take to help eliminate hunger in our community. Here’s the goal for tomorrow:
Help us generate phone calls across the state sending a strong message to our delegation that those struggling with hunger in our communities appreciate their support and are depending on their leadership to protect the federal hunger safety net!
Even if you’ve never called before, the instructions in Liz’ letter make it easy as pie. This is the time to make your voice heard. Help us make a difference to those struggling with hunger in our community!
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Tomorrow is Hunger Action Day!
TOMORROW is Hunger Action Day, and we’re asking you to take action.
Please call your congressperson and ask him/her to take the lead against proposed cuts to the federal hunger safety net.
Thank your representative for his/her steadfast support on behalf of the one in 10 people in Massachusetts who struggle with hunger, and urge him/her to lobby his/her Congressional colleagues to ensure that all Americans have enough healthy food to eat.
Currently, the House has proposed $160 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as part of the Farm Bill reauthorization. Our Congressional delegation has opposed those cuts, but we need them to proactively solicit support from both sides of the aisle to protect SNAP, our country’s first line defense against hunger. Also included in the Farm Bill is The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides U.S. Department of Agriculture foods to food banks across the U.S. TEFAP funding must be increase to meet the needs of the 42 million Americans living with food insecurity every day. Help us generate phone calls across the state sending a strong message to our delegation that those struggling with hunger in our communities appreciate their support and are depending on their leadership to protect the federal hunger safety net!
Call Congress Today!
Call Congress Now! Its easy. Here’s how.
- Dial this toll-free number, (888) 398-8702, listen to the pre-recorded message.
- Choose to be connected to your House member, then enter your zip code.
- Once you are connected to your congressperson, state that you are a constituent, and give your name and the town you are calling from.
- State that you are calling about SNAP and the Farm Bill, and deliver this important message:
“I’m your constituent and I want to thank you for standing up for Massachusetts families in need by fighting against cuts or harmful changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and by supporting increased funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in the upcoming Farm Bill.
[Insert specific hunger story if you have one]
It’s who we are as Americans to help our neighbors when they need it most. With one in 10 food insecure people in Massachusetts, we encourage [your congressperson’s name]to help struggling families who do not have enough to eat by working with your colleagues to keep SNAP strong and increase TEFAP funds in the upcoming Farm Bill. Together, we can end hunger in our nation.”
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More ways to be involved in Hunger Action Month:
- Download our Hunger Action Month Calendar and find the different ways you can get involved each day. Get together with family, friends, co-workers, or your church congregation and take action together!
- Join in our Fight for 15 Campaign to raise the minimum wage. You can help collect signatures to put the issue on the 2018 ballot on the weekend of September 16th and 17th. Anyone can collect signatures, and it’s a fun way to connect with people in your community and beyond! Contact Martha for more information.
- Accompany Liz, Martha and others to the State House in Boston for a rally, lobbying, and hearing on the pending legislation to bring the minimum wage up to $15/hour by 2021. The briefing is at 11 am on Tuesday September 19th and Liz is happy for others to join the carpool! Email Liz today if you want to come!
- Participate in Hunger Action Day on Thursday, September 14th by calling your U.S. Congressperson and asking him or her to continue to support and protect SNAP, and to ask their colleagues to step up and do the same (more info to come about Hunger Action Day!)
- Download our *NEW* Advocacy Materials! Print out your own Selfie Signs, host a Postcard Party, and get your very own Posters to bring to events, hearings, rallies and more!
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Thank you so much for YOUR commitment to ending hunger in Worcester County!
Liz Sheehan Castro
Director of Advocacy
Worcester County Food Bank
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Bonus Action! Share Your Story
Your voice has power. Do you have a story to share about food insecurity or what SNAP benefits have meant to you? Tell us about it here.
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