By Olivia Stanley
A few weeks ago, I attended the Conversation with the White House in the Southwest Region webinar hosted by Bread for the World. Ahead of the webinar, I had helped gather names of church partners that might be interested in attending as part of my internship at Bread.
The webinar’s panelists—mostly faith leaders—spoke about their ministry and offered specific ways that the Biden-Harris administration could support them in their efforts to end hunger in their communities. Josh Dickson, deputy director for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, discussed the importance of making permanent the Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion.
He also spoke about the administration’s commitment to ensuring that individuals who are not required to file taxes (because they make too little money) still have a way to receive CTC payments.
Our country is trying to recover while still fighting the global pandemic. At the beginning of COVID-19, my father told me, “We are building the plane as we fly it.” His statement rings even more true today as we grapple with the vaccine rollout and the Delta variant. During the webinar, Josh made the point that our country would spend the next 50 years dealing with the fallout of the global pandemic.
I agree with him. Our country is experiencing a monumental event in history, and we have a chance to set a precedent for what policies will take care of my generation and our children. To invest in the future of this country, we have to invest in mothers and children. Otherwise, there will be no future.
For the last eight weeks, I have been interning with Bread’s Faith Engagement department. I applied for the internship because I wanted to better understand U.S. policies that can help end hunger. I learned about poverty and how it perpetuates hunger. I learned that SNAP and WIC benefits are sometimes not enough for struggling U.S. families.
I learned that acts of charity can only go so far; people stuck in the cycle of poverty need an out. Our economy and policies have to start helping people here and abroad who struggle with hunger and poverty.
Making the CTC expansion permanent and passage of the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021 (H.R. 4693) and a human infrastructure package could go a long way toward making lasting change in the U.S. and around the world.
Even though the global pandemic has increased hunger in the U.S. and abroad, I am still optimistic. My time at Bread has made me optimistic because I see the dedication of staff and members to influence members of Congress.
My hope is that what happens now legislatively and in the near future will lead to positive changes—and shape the future for the better.
Olivia Stanley is a psychology student at Sewanee in Tennessee. She will graduate in 2023.
My time at Bread has made me optimistic because I see the dedication of staff and members to influence members of Congress.
Afghanistan would be considered likely to have high rates of hunger because at least two of the major causes of global hunger affect it—armed conflict and fragile governmental institutions.
Malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of all preventable deaths among children under 5. Every year, the world loses hundreds of thousands of young children and babies to hunger-related causes.
Bread for the World is calling on the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to build a better 1,000-Days infrastructure in the United States.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith.” These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition.
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.