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Feburary 2018 Organizational Newsletter

by | Feb 27, 2018 | News

Statement on Proposed SNAP Cuts from
Executive Director Linda Bopp

It’s essential that people in our community are able to put food on their table to keep themselves and their families healthy. Research shows that people who don’t have access to healthy meals are more likely to suffer poor health outcomes. That’s where SNAP, which provides nutrition assistance, comes in; it ensures New York families can have enough food to eat and still make ends meet.

SNAP doesn’t just help families, seniors and people with disabilities put food on the table and keep them out of poverty. It also benefits local businesses, retailers and farmers, pumping money into our economy, which in turn raises wages and creates higher-paying jobs. For all these reasons, any effort to cut SNAP is harmful and short-sighted.

Unfortunately, the president’s FY 18-19 budget proposal, released on February 12, represents a major threat to this program. It’s not just the much discussed ‘Harvest Box’ idea – an approach that ignores the unique nutrition and health needs of individuals and families and the logistical nightmare this would create. The budget also calls for a massive 30 percent cut to SNAP, threatening access to healthy food for nearly 2.9 million people who participate in SNAP across our state.

Ensuring that SNAP is protected from structural changes and harmful cuts is both the right thing and the smart thing to do. If we want to keep people, our community and local economy strong, it’s time to take these harmful cuts and changes off the table.

On the Hunger Solutions New York website are informative tools you can use to help educate and advocate for keeping a strong and effective SNAP program.

We’re asking advocates to call on the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to strengthen and protect SNAP.
  1. Sign up today at Food Research & Action Center and Feeding America’s Thunderclap Campaign page and choose how you’d like to share the message, either via your Facebook or Twitter account.
  2. Authorize access to your account so Thunderclap can post the message for you automatically. No worries, it is completely secure.
  3. Thunderclap will schedule the one-time post to be delivered simultaneously with other advocates’ posts at 10 a.m. on February 27.
  4. The virtual thunderclap will echo the efforts of hundreds of anti-hunger advocates who will be storming Capitol Hill that day as part of the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference.

That’s it! With two clicks, you can help make a lot noise and capture the attention of Congress.

Summer Meals Webinar 

Making sure all children have access to food in the summer is important to their health, wellbeing and academic success. Want to do something meaningful to support kids and teens in your community?

Join us February 28 at 2:00pm for a webinar on how communities are coming together to support children’s summertime nutrition and well-being. Learn about the Summer Food Service Program and how organizations in low-income communities where young people gather may be eligible to offer free, nutritious meals and/or snacks through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

Hunger Solutions New York joins Representative Sean Patrick Maloney on SNAP and the Farm Bill

 

Public Affairs Director Sherry Tomasky and SNAP Policy Specialist Dawn Secor, along with other Hudson Valley hunger organizations, joined Congressman Maloney at a round table event on February 22, 2018 ahead of the upcoming debate on the 2018 Farm Bill.

The event focused on priorities to reduce hunger and improve access to healthy, locally grown produce through the SNAP program. There is unanimity in the goal to see a Farm Bill that protects SNAP from cuts or structural changes that would weaken the program for the 19,000 families and 450 retailers and farmers markets in the 18th district who rely on it.

Disabled Americans rank among our most vulnerable populations, often burdened with enormous medical bills and mental and physical restrictions that make holding down a job difficult or impossible. Many of these people find themselves having to choose between paying their monthly bills and getting proper nutrition.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can help to eliminate that worry. SNAP helps stretch food dollars for low-income individuals and families. Monthly benefits are automatically deposited into participants’ accounts. Using a special debit card, participants can buy food from local stores and farmers’ markets. On a monthly basis, the program helps approximately 3 million people in New York State stretch their food budgets.

Free SNAP application assistance is available through the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP). NOEP Coordinators provide confidential, one-on-one help to anyone who wishes to apply for SNAP. Services are available in person or over the phone. Home visits can be arranged, too, along with translation services, if needed.