Take Action
Upcoming Events:
- May 14 and 21: Community Conversations on the Budget, Seattle City Council
An opportunity to weigh in as the city council develops next year’s city budget.
- Central Seattle
Monday, May 14, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Central Community College, 1701 Broadway, Broadway Edison Building, Rm BE1110
- South Seattle
Monday, May 21, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
New Holly Gathering Hall, 7054 32nd Ave S.
- May 21: Cross Cultural Communications Training, Seattle Food Committee. 12:30-4:30pm at Solid Ground.
RSVP here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QXCDG6D
- June 1: Northwest Harvest Annual Conference, Mercer Island Presbyterian Church
- June 6: Public Health and Food Policy Summit, Puget Sound Regional Council’s Food Policy Council
Event details: http://www.psfn.org/events
Act on the State Budget
Please join us by sending a thank you to your legislators TODAY. We strongly encourage you to send a thank you if you are represented by any of the following members who were particularly strong advocates in protecting the State Food Assistance Program:
- Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (Spokane)
- Senate Ways and Means Chair Ed Murray (Seattle- 43rd)
- Senator Derek Kilmer (Gig Harbor/Bremerton)
- Speaker Frank Chopp (Seattle- 43rd)
- House Ways and Means Chair Ross Hunter (Redmond, Sammamish, Bellevue)
- Rep. Jeannie Darnielle (Tacoma)
Please add a personal message to the following text in an email then send to your members:
On behalf of Washington’s hungry families, thank you for passing a budget that protects our state’s nutrition assistance programs. The supplemental operational budget provides food stamp benefits for our newest neighbors with the State Food Assistance Program. This budget helps increase affordability and access to Washington grown, nutritious produce at farmers markets for seniors and low-income families with young children. This budget will help food banks keep their doors open and their shelves stocked. This budget will help hungry children concentrate better on their studies since they can count on a free or reduced price meal at school. In other words, thank you for your continued partnership in fighting hunger in Washington.
Act to protect SNAP from attack
Thank you for your efforts to call and email Congress in response to our advocacy updates in the last few weeks about SNAP. If you want to take action to continue educating our Senators and your Representative about the need to strengthen and protect SNAP and the impact that the proposed cuts will have on your program and your community, please take a look at some of the action alerts from our coalition partners.
- Bread for the World, a coalition of faith based organizations, has a petition that lets Congress know that it is estimated that on average, church sponsored food banks and meal programs will need an additional $50,000 per year to meet the increased need for services due to loss in SNAP benefits. You can find the petition by clicking here.
- The Food Research Action Center has more information about Heat and Eat and talking points for urging members of Congress to protect SNAP in our Farm Bill. Visit their page here: frac.org/leg-act-center
- Leave a comment for the House Agriculture Committee about the importance of SNAP, TEFAP, and CSFP for your program and the customers you serve. The deadline for comments is May 20. agriculture.house.gov/farmbill_feedback.html
Contact your legislators:
Find your Representative here: www.house.gov
Contact Senator Patty Murray: murray.senate.gov
Contact Senator Mari a Cantwell: cantwell.senate.gov
For more information, including how to get involved with Northwest Harvest’s advocacy work, please contact Christina Wong, Public Policy Manager, at 206-923-7465 or christinaw@northwestharvest.org. You can also sign up to receive email alerts below.
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