FoodCorps’ Post

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The New York budget season kicked off with the release of Governor Hochul's Executive Budget. While the proposal includes important investments in New York communities and families, the framework misses the mark on hunger. At a time when food insecurity is on the rise and with a recent Department of Health (DOH) report finding nearly one in four New York adults experienced food insecurity at some point during the past 12 months, the Executive Budget proposes a $22M cut to the state's Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP). The proposed figure, which amounts to a nearly 40% cut compared with current funding levels, would significantly constrain a program that supports millions of New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet. New York's hunger relief programs, HPNAP and Nourish New York in particular, serve as a crucial backstop for hungry New Yorkers. They enable food banks, pantries, shelters, and community-based organizations to provide nutritious and culturally relevant options at food distributions. More investment is needed to meet the rising demand at distributions, not less. Also missing from the Executive Budget were broadly popular initiatives including universal school meals, the Working Families Tax Credit, and a $100 minimum SNAP benefit. These initiatives would go a long way in reducing poverty and affirming food security. The New York Assembly and Senate will now begin developing their respective budget proposals, and state lawmakers need to hear directly from you. Join us in sending a simple message to your elected representatives: healthy food is a basic human right! https://lnkd.in/e7b4mBdu

UPDATE🚨🚨 Congress has passed another CR (continuing resolution) that averts a partial government shutdown. This CR extends the laddered approach for passing federal government funding bills, with the first deadline set for March 1. Although this avoids chaos and confusion for millions of Americans today, it does not change the important fact that nutrition programs like WIC need the proper funding and support so families can continue to use these crucial benefits. Share this post with a friend to help spread awareness. 🤝 #NoKidHungry #FundWIC #foodinsecurity #WIC

AmeriCorps is at risk! Congress is considering major cuts to its funding, which could slash the agency's budget to the lowest it's been in 26 years! If this budget is passed, our country could stand to lose tens of thousands of service member positions, depriving local organizations of the vital resources they need to address our community's most urgent problems. Can we count on you to tell lawmakers to invest in #AmeriCorps? 🙏 Learn more and make your voice heard now with this simple tool from Voices for National Service: https://lnkd.in/gUMgAm_G

Didn't have time to dig through the federal budget? Future of Good's article gives a summary of 25 budget items in the 2024 Budget that social good organizations should know. Here are a few of the numbers. 1️⃣ ✋ $400,000 to help Volunteer Canada develop a National Volunteer Action Strategy. 2️⃣ 🧠 $100 million in annual funding for the next five years for a new Youth Mental Health Fund.  3️⃣ $273.6 million in funding over the next six years to combat hate, including community outreach and security, law enforcement reform, tackling hate crime, counter-radicalization and victim support. Check out the full article by Elisha Dacey below. #cdnpoli #budget2024

“When the food bank began more than 10 years ago we did around 300 food parcels a year. In 2023 we gave out 1600 food parcels. That is for a town with a population of 14,000 people.” Captain Caroline Brophy-Parkin, Harwick Salvation Army Our Harwick church is providing a range of programmes for people struggling financially and with mental ill health, but our local church is seeing more people than ever turning to them for emergency support. Captain Caroline Brophy-Parkin, our Harwick church leader says:  “We are seeing a lot more people, particularly people with jobs, looking for help. Rising costs are affecting every aspect of their daily life. We have people who are working good jobs coming to us saying they can’t afford to eat. It’s heart-breaking. “We can see the growing need, which is why we do more than just give out food parcels. We want to help people tackle the complex reasons they turn to us for support in the first place. We run a range of programmes throughout the week…these programmes look to tackle the main problems people in this community face. Issues such as poverty, debt, unemployment and mental health. We also work closely with substance use groups as well so that we can signpost people to the right support. “We couldn’t do what we do without the generosity and support of people and businesses in Hawick. I know many people who give to us have their own financial struggles but find a way to keep giving. It’s incredible.” Find out more about the wide range of activities our Harwick church runs to help vulnerable people: https://lnkd.in/eewYjeQH

City of Toronto, Ontario Government | Gouvernement de l’Ontario, Government of Canada, Loblaws Inc - we need to find a way to do better than this. Here is a picture of my local Loblaws where baby formula is off the shelf and behind look and key at customer service. Why? Because it’s so expensive young families are resorting to theft to feed their infants and the grocery chains are locking it up. With the level of wealth in our country and our corporations, in my opinion, this is criminal. It just shouldn’t be that parents can’t access the formula they need for their infants. There is a solution for this. It’s radically fixable. Surely our governments, our retailers, a foundation or major donor or all of the above can all step up to fill this need. It’s time to think about the why behind thefts of this nature, and stop looking the other way with the solution of the lock and key.

Over the Christmas period, Variety received a heartbreaking voicemail from a desperate mum whose children are on our waitlist. In it, she expresses her overwhelming gratitude for a $150 voucher – a one-off gift that we were able to provide thanks to the generosity of our donors and corporate partners. For this family of four, $150 felt like $150,000. And sadly, this isn’t an isolated story. Newly released child poverty statistics (StatsNZ) are harrowing: one-in-eight Kiwi kids are living in material hardship. That equates to 143,700 children going without the essentials they need to thrive in a cost-of-living crisis that has turned into a cost-of-surviving crisis for many.   With nearly 2,500 of these children currently on our waiting list for a sponsor, we can’t sit on our hands any longer. We all have a role to play in creating a society in which our children can thrive so we’re calling upon New Zealanders to help us. Every sponsorship not only has the power to reverse the statistics, but the power to change a life. The time for action is now.    Read more about the impact of becoming a Kiwi Kid Sponsor here: https://lnkd.in/gEZPf8Hi

One more push: if you're a public servant (in F/S/L gov't, an NGO, a first responder, an educator, etc) enrolled in or seeking loan forgiveness under #PSLF, answer this two minute survey to help inform the PSLF Coalition's focus!

🚨Support the Virginia Commission to End Hunger in the Final Budget 🚨 According to Hunger Free America’s 2023 Annual Hunger Survey, 11.7% of Virginia children live in food insecure households, putting them at risk for poor health outcomes and academic performance. As our communities continue to face rising food prices and decreased safety net benefits, it is important to continue to build coalition and solidarity to eradicate hunger and food insecurity statewide. The purpose of the Virginia Commission to End Hunger is to develop an action plan every two years for ending hunger in the Commonwealth, review the progress of such plan, and ensure cross-collaboration among government entities and community partners toward the goal of ending hunger in the Commonwealth. The Commission's membership will include a high school junior or senior student representative from a public school--centering the voices of young people is a critical step in ensuring they have a say in matters that impact them and their future. Support the inclusion of Item 1 #4h in the final budget to ensure Virginia has a coordinated place to work on efforts to end food insecurity and ensure our neighbors have access to healthy, nutritious food by clicking here: https://ow.ly/CGH550QJzUC