As COVID-19 continues to impact the food security of New York’s children, it’s imperative that child nutrition waivers are extended to September 30, 2020. To learn more, read No Kid Hungry NY Director Rachel Sabella’s Letter to the Editor published in today’s Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
To the editor:
The coronavirus has caused both a catastrophic health crisis and an economic one, pushing thousands of families into poverty and hunger here in New York. Prior to the pandemic, 1 in 6 kids across the state lived in a family struggling with hunger, and with lost jobs and wages that number has only grown.
Even in this crisis, we’ve been able to make sure children are still fed. Nationwide child nutrition waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave school districts and community groups across our great state the ability to reach kids by allowing them to package meals for families to pick up, or for meals to be dropped off at a child’s home. Kids were fed.
Now these nationwide waivers are set to expire at the end of June, at the height of summer hunger. Without the flexibilities these waivers provide, schools and community organizations in New York and across the country will not be able to reach hungry kids with the food they need this summer.
I hope our representatives in Congress — Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand, and Rep. Stefanik — will help us feed kids this summer by urging the USDA to extend all nationwide child nutrition waivers through Sept. 30. The road to economic recovery begins with families in New York having the food they need for kids to thrive.
Sincerely,
Rachel Sabella
No Kid Hungry New York Director