By Jon Gromek
Bread for the World members from central Indiana traveled last year to Washington, D.C., to attend Lobby Day so they could speak directly to their elected officials about important legislation regarding maternal and child nutrition.
They spoke about the Global Food Security Act and also urged their representatives to reauthorize the federal government’s child nutrition programs. The meetings were fruitful, and by the time they left Washington, both of Indiana’s representatives had agreed to co-sponsor the Global Food Security Act and were supportive of the common-sense reforms to our child nutrition programs.
Since then, a lot has happened in Congress. Because of your hard work and tireless advocacy, we have seen unprecedented action taken by Congress to help mothers and children not just survive but thrive. Recently, both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed the Global Food Security Act. (Bread is now urging the two chambers to quickly reconcile the minor differences between the bills and pass the final bill). In the coming months, and after much delay, our lawmakers will decide how to structure and fund the programs that make sure our nation’s children get the food they need to grow and excel at school.
We’ve made great progress, but our work is not over, and the next few months are crucial! Final decisions will be made to make the Global Food Security Act law and to finally reauthorize school nutrition programs. Like Bread members from Indiana, we need you to come back and finish the job.
We need Bread members from around the country to descend on our nation’s capital and send a clear message to our elected officials. Research has shown that there is no more effective and influential way to move your member of Congress on an issue than to meet directly with them and members of their staff.
But time is running out. Not just to secure a better future for mothers and children around the world but to sign up and register for this year’s Lobby Day.
Join us for Lobby Day on June 7. To ensure mothers and children around the world are healthy and well-nourished, we are asking Congress to increase funding for nutrition in global health programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to at least $230 million in fiscal year 2017.
Help us deliver this message directly to Capitol Hill. Your members of Congress need to hear from you – and visiting them in person will have the greatest effect.
Jon Gromek is senior regional organizer at Bread for the World.
