Daily Action for Tuesday, April 12th, 2022
At the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Congress enacted a temporary program to help schools provide lunches for students: reducing requirements about what school lunch had to look like, more funding for food, and making school lunches universally free for all students. These measures are set to expire on June 30th. Pre-pandemic, many children owed a school lunch debt because their families were unable to pay for school lunches. The pandemic-era measures did away with this debt, but unless Congress acts to maintain the school meals program, many will be incurring school lunch debt yet again. We should be providing for the next generation, not encumbering them with insurmountable debt before they even graduate from high school. Today’s daily action is to call Congress and urge them to fund school lunch programs so that no child goes hungry.
ACTION: Tell Congress to Full School Lunch Programs
Contact both:
Sen. Maria Cantwell: 202-224-3441 or http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/email/form
Sen. Patty Murray: 202-224-2621 or http://www.murray.senate.gov/write-to-patty/
Contact your Rep:
Rep. Pramila Jayapal – 202-225-3106 or http://jayapal.house.gov/contact
Rep. Adam Smith – 202-225-8901 or http://adamsmith.house.gov/contact
Script
Hi, my name is NAME and I am a constituent in Seattle, [ZIPCODE]. A pandemic-era school lunch program is set to expire on June 30th. I’m contacting you to urge you to extend the system of waivers that makes school lunches easier to provide. Millions of children rely on school meals daily. For many, it’s the most substantial food they get every day. Pre-pandemic, many children ended up in school lunch debt when their families were unable to pay for school lunches. We should be providing for the next generation, not encumbering them with insurmountable debt before they even graduate from high school. Please fund school lunch programs so that no child goes hungry.
Background
Slate: The Impending School Lunch Disaster
https://slate.com/human-interest/2022/04/school-lunch-free-waivers-students-congress-aid.html
