05/16/2012 by jlantrip | Comments (0)
This afternoon the Senate will vote on truly extreme budget proposals for the Farm Bill. Make sure that the bill protects and strengthens critical hunger relief programs.
Please contact them today.
It’s quick and easy to email your Senators via the Coalition on Human Needs by clicking here: send an email now. Tell them to vote against the House budget and other similarly reckless plans.Millions of Americans all across the country are struggling to put food on the table. With unemployment expected to remain above 8 percent this year and long-term unemployment at still at record highs, programs like SNAP and TEFAP are more important than ever. Your Senators need to hear from you TODAY. We hope you can take a moment to call both of your senators and help us demonstrate how important hunger-relief programs are to your community.If you’d like to call, here’s how Just dial 1-877-698-8228to be connected directly to both of your senators. The system allows you to connect toll-free to both of your senators without hanging up the phone. Dial 1-877-698-8228. When prompted, enter your zip code and listen to the brief instructions. You’ll then be patched through to your first Senator's office automatically.Tell them that you are a constituent and state the name of the town you are calling from. Let them know you are calling about the Farm Bill and deliver these two important messages:
TEFAP Message: Please support strengthening funding for TEFAP, which is a critical source of food for food banks and the clients we serve.
SNAP Message: I urge you to support SNAP and oppose any proposals that would change SNAP’s structure or reduce funding, restrict eligibility or reduce benefits.
05/10/2012 by jlantrip | Comments (3)
The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is shocked by today’s vote by the House of Representatives to slash hunger relief spending by nearly $36 billion. Local non-profit organizations, like the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, are already stretched to the breaking point trying to keep up with increased need. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, would be devastating to our region. It would be impossible for our food bank to make up the difference for these severe cuts.
Taking care of our neighbors is an American value, and feeding our neighbors is a shared responsibility. Every day the Food Bank of Northern Nevada sees this partnership reflected in the generous support of our volunteers and donors, and we are grateful that this value is reflected in Washington through important anti-hunger programs like SNAP. Cutting SNAP at a time when the need for food assistance has never been greater is both reckless and short-sighted.
Our food bank serves households who have too much in income or assets to qualify for SNAP but who still struggle to feed their families. We also serve many SNAP participants whose benefits are inadequate to get them through the month. Benefits average less than $1.50 per person per meal , leaving many participating families to turn to local food pantries to make ends meet.
SNAP is targeted at our most vulnerable: 76 percent of SNAP households include a child, elderly person, or disabled person , and 85 percent have gross income at or below 100 percent of the poverty line. Deficit reduction is an important national priority, but it must not be undertaken without regard to our national values and it must not come at the expense of our most vulnerable .
Please speak out for the hungry.
05/08/2012 by jlantrip | Comments (0)
How to Donate a Meal for FREE!Conagra Foods is donating one meal for every code entered online from participating foods. It’s so easy. 
When you have purchased a food item that has the Child Hunger Ends Here code on it, like this one, go to childhungerendshere.com and enter the code located on the back of the package. 
The following are some of the Conagra brands that are participating. Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Healthy Choice, Hunt’s, Marie Callender’s, Manwich, Orville Redenbacher’s, Peter Pan and Snack Pack. One meal is then donated to Feeding America, the nation’s network of over 200 food banks!
05/07/2012 by jlantrip | Comments (0)
Did you know that 1/2 of all SNAP Benefits awarded in our state, go to help hungry children?
On April 26, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Farm Bill out of committee. The House must do the same. Right now, members of the House Agriculture Committee are working on developing their version of the Farm Bill and seeking public comments to inform their decisions. In April, that same committee approved a proposal to cut SNAP by $36 billion as part of the budget reconciliation process. The full House is expected to vote on this measure later this week. While the budget reconciliation votes are non-binding, they show how serious the threats to hunger-relief programs like SNAP and TEFAP really are, particularly in the House.
The truth is non-profit organizations across the country are simply not able to pick up the slack for cuts to programs such as SNAP. Many of our neighbors are relying on SNAP benefits to feed their families and to them, these cuts would be devastating. As constituents, we are being asked to give our comments on the Farm Bill.
Feedback from constituents does make a difference! It takes about 30 seconds to make your voice heard. Click on this link, fill in the short form, and include your comments about how you care about these national feeding programs!
Feel free to use our name! Something as simple as the following makes a difference to those who are hungry. I am a supporter of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. Right now, many families in our community are struggling. With increased demand for emergency food assistance, high food and gas prices, and declines in TEFAP commodities—a major source of the food we distribute—our food bank is having difficulty meeting the needs of our community. We need a strong Farm Bill to make sure that struggling families can put food on the table. I ask that you pass a Farm Bill that protects and strengthens programs like SNAP, TEFAP, and CSFP. Our community cannot afford cuts to these programs.
04/19/2012 by jlantrip | Comments (0)
Help us protect SNAP Benefits for northern Nevada Families  The House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday cut SNAP by a shocking nearly $36 billion. The House Budget Resolution instructed the Agriculture Committee to identify $33 billion in savings in programs within their jurisdiction by April 27, a process known as budget reconciliation. The committee moved its budget reconciliation recommendations yesterday, Wednesday, April 18. But rather than spread cuts across programs within its jurisdiction, the House Agriculture Committee took the entire $33 billion cut from SNAP - plus over $2 billion more.So many of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada’s clients rely on SNAP as a vital safety net for their families. Cuts such as these cannot be absorbed by efforts of ours or those of other food banks across the country. We know that over half of all benefits go to support children and seniors and it is so important that this continues to happen. Honestly, the emergency food resource system is being pushed to its limit, even with these important benefits. What we know about SNAP Benefits. SNAP provides benefits that are timely, targeted, and temporary. Cuts to SNAP will increase demand at already overwhelmed food banks, and charity will not be able to make up the difference; We can't balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable; tell client stories that demonstrate how the program is serving the most vulnerable and helping them move back to economic security Please help us provide a voice for those who are many times not represented in our system. We need to protect SNAP benefits. What can you do? Click here to get involved! |