Letter from Congressman George Miller to You!

For months the Food Bank has been talking about the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization. We are happy to tell you that some exciting developments have recently taken place. Our Congressman George Miller from Contra Costa and Solano counties is chair of the committee that will be leading the reauthorization of child nutrition programs and has written a letter to all of you about this exciting news! For more information about the Child Nutrition Reauthorization visit http://foodbankccs.org/give%20help/advocate/advocateCNR.html.

October 14, 2009

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your support of for the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. Times are tough for many working families, and without your support the Food Bank would not be able to carry out the good work that they do.

Many of you have expressed your concerns about reauthorizing the child nutrition programs that are a safety net for families who are struggling to make ends meet and I have updates to share with you.

This week, Congress enacted a short term extension of those child nutrition programs while my committee continues our efforts to reauthorize the programs completely by the end of next year. We also made some key investments to meet critical child nutrition needs, at no new cost to taxpayers

We know that that hunger does not take a vacation during the summer so we've invested $85 million for pilot summer food service program projects that will help expand nutrition benefits for low-income children during the summer.

We've also provided support to help increase the number of children who are automatically enrolled for free school meals and grant funding for school food service equipment to help schools store and prepare healthy foods.

And we set aside $8 million for competitive grants so that child care facilities can improve the quality of meals and promote healthy eating habits.

Giving our most vulnerable children access to healthy, safe, nutritious - and affordable - meals is one of the most important things we can do to help them thrive in school and in life. Learn more about the investments in child nutrition, please visit edlabor.house.gov.

Sincerely,

George Miller
Member of Congress


If you or anyone you know is interested in learning about new and exciting anti-hunger advocacy work please let us know at lsherrill@foodbankccs.org.