End Hunger Connecticut! was pleased to be able to
participate in CT Non-Profit Week at the capitol in February. This was a great
opportunity for us to network with other non-profits in the state and to serve
as a reminder to our legislators that, with their help, the war on hunger can
be won. Learn more here!
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Utility Event includes
spotlight on SNAP assistance
Financially challenged customers of CL&P and Yankee Gas
living in New London County, had the opportunity to sign-up for energy
assistance programs and other services Saturday, March 27, 2010.
Limited-income customers having trouble paying their utility
bills were invited to join the two utility companies at an event held at the
Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) in New London.
Customers were able to make special payment arrangements and
learn ways to reduce their energy bill. The companies also offered customers
information and eligibility assistance regarding participation in the
Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund's (CEEF) free weatherization program. Almost
200 participants attended the event which was held in partnership with
Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut, Inc.
End Hunger CT!
was also on hand to offer information and assistance on SNAP (formerly the Food
Stamp Program) to participants. On-the -spot eligibility screening was
available along with help in filling out applications. An interpreter was present to answer
questions and explain the program to interested Spanish speaking
attendees.
Other upcoming Utility Day events are listed below. SNAP outreach
representatives will also be present to assist customers with SNAP at most of
these events.
New Britain
Saturday, April 10, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Human Resources Agency (HRA) of New Britain, Inc.
180 Clinton Street
Torrington
Wednesday, April 14, 3 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Connecticut
Light & Power
174 Franklin Street
Waterbury
Saturday, April 17, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
New Opportunities, Inc. (NOW)
232 North Elm Street
Hartford
Saturday, April 24, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Community Renewal Team, Inc. (CRT)
555 Windsor
Street
Meriden
Saturday, May 1, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Yankee Gas
56 Cooper Street
Willimantic
Saturday, May 8, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Eastern Connecticut State University
Wood Support
Services Center
83 Windham
Street
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Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010: The First Big Step in
Child Nutrition Reauthorization
On March 17, 2010, the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman
Blanche Lincoln released her "mark" for Child  Nutrition Reauthorization. The
"mark" is a step in the right direction to ensure low-income children have
access to the meals they need.
Features of the bill include an expansion of the
Afterschool Meal Program to all 50 states and improvements in processes for
certification of school meals. The Chairman's Mark includes $4.5 billion
increase over 10 year and is is less than half of the $1 billion per year increase
proposed by President Obama. Senator
Lincoln cited this as "the place to start. This is more than we've ever
spent on these programs." (Reuters)
See the highlights here: http://frac.org/Legislative/action_center/healthy_hungerfree_kids_act_highlights.htm
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack on the Unveiling of the
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act:
"I commend Chairman Lincoln and Senator Chambliss for their leadership on
the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization. Improving the quality of school meals
and the health of the school environment is critically important to the overall
health of our kids, in addition to their academic achievement. At the same
time, we must improve access to these vital programs and take steps to reduce
hunger. The framework announced today makes progress toward both goals. Though
we believe that additional access and nutrition goals can and should be
accomplished by passing a more robust bill that supports the President's
request of $10 billion in additional funding, the bipartisan announcement today
is a very positive step forward."
End Hunger Connecticut! is committed to working with our
Senators and members of the House for the passage of an strong and effective
Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill.
Please reach out to
our Congressional delegation and ask them to fund the Bill at the President's
requested $10 billion dollars. Now is a great time to get them to visit your
programs and sites in action. Help them help Connecticut's children.
See FRAC's guide for hosting a site visit. Please also feel free
to call on End Hunger CT! for help in organizing a site visit. Contact dcrayco@endhungerct.org or (860)
560-2100 ext. 303.
Contact info:
Senator Chris Dodd
By Phone: (860) 258-6940
Website
Senator Joe Lieberman
By Phone: (860)549-8463
Website
District # 1-U.S. Congressman John Larson
Phone: (860) 278-8888 Website
District # 2-Congressman Joe Courtney
Phone: (860) 886-0139 Website
District # 3- Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
Phone: (203) 562-3718 Website
District # 4- Congressman Jim Himes
Phone: (203) 453-0028 Website
District #5-Congressman Chris Murphy
Phone: (860) 223-8412 Website
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Happy Anniversary to a Program that makes a Daily Difference March 16, 2010 marked the one year anniversary of
Bloomfield's successful grab and go breakfast program at Carmen Arace Middle
School. One year prior, the Bloomfield School Food Service Director, Dana Tice,
met with local advocates including those from End Hunger CT!, Foodshare, and
Bloomfield Social Services to determine how to better meet the needs of food insecure children in the community.
Amanda
Aldred, New England Dairy and Food Council and Dana Tice, Bloomfield
School Food Services Director serving breakfast in the hallway
A presentation was given to the teachers
and staff who requested a breakfast program that encouraged more
participation. Ms. Tice rallied her troops and started serving breakfast in the
hallway. As the idea caught on with students, many more chose school breakfast.
This resulted in a 185% increase in the number of breakfasts served each day
since the start of the program. It's like clock-work now; students get off the
bus, go to their locker, grab their breakfast, and eat in class- all within a
period of 10-15 minutes. Teachers at the
school have noted a positive difference in the way their students behavior and
focus during the mid-morning hours. As Ms. Tice will attest, support from the school community
and a can-do attitude is a recipe for school
breakfast success.
Bloomfield's breakfast in the hallway program is not an
exception to the rule. There are many other schools and town adopting similar
protocols for ensuring their students start each day right. The Connecticut
School Breakfast Team is available to assist schools and districts with piloting
programs just like these. For more information, please contact Dawn Crayco at
(860) 560-2100 ext. 303.
See
Susan Campbell's column on the one-year anniversary.
Feed Them, And They Will Learn, March 17, 2010
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Hunger Doesn't Take a Summer Vacation
 Children in your community do not need to go hungry this
summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program can
help fill the hunger gap. During the school year, nutritious meals are
available through the National School Lunch Program. But those programs end
when school ends for the summer.
This is where we need your help. We know families and organizations
are often aware of these summer meal benefit. In 2009, approximately 33,000
eligible children received these free meals; however, it only represents a small
percentage of the children getting meals during the school year. To help
promote the program, numerous outreach materials have been produced. Please
consider helping to publicize this free and most worthwhile program.
Further information about the Summer Food Service Program may
be obtained by contacting Susan Bohuslaw at (860) 807-2073 or Susan.bohuslaw@ct.gov or Robert Zwak at
(860) 807-2081 or Robert.Zwak@ct.gov.
After June 7th
The Summer Food Service Program is federally funded and is
administered by State Department of Education and provides free nutritious
meals to children through 18 year of age in low-income areas.
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SNAP Update
SNAP participation is at an all time high, not only across
the country but in Connecticut as well.
1 in 8 people are currently using the program - in Connecticut over
300,000 people (in over 162,000 households) receive SNAP benefits. The USDA's Economic Research Service reported
about 1 in 4 people in the country accessed at least one of the fifteen federal
nutrition program during the last year.
As more people connect to the program, receiving benefits without delay is still a concern; many people have been waiting past the federal time limits
to receive their benefits. Connecticut not only increased the income limits for eligibility but it occurred at the same time that many DSS workers retired. Given the great economic impact of SNAP benefits to our communities the President and Congress supplied American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to DSS to increase participation rates by hiring more
staff for SNAP intake.
For example, the Hartford regional
office established a triage unit for SNAP eligibility workers whose primary
focus is expedited, or emergency, cases.
There is also a designated staff member in the reception area who is
handling expedited cases only. These
changes are getting people necessary food in a timely manner - we know its
working as fewer people are coming to EHC! with complaints!
Outreach opportunities:
In anticipation of the forthcoming school summer vacation EHC! is focusing our outreach at schools to talk about SNAP as well as
other available nutrition programs, including Summer Meals. Did you know that the summer feeding program
was developed in order to ensure children didn't lose all their knowledge in
the summertime? In fact, summer feeding
was developed as a way to decrease ethnic and racial disparities in education. It's time to increase participation in that
program too!
Please call the
office and ask for any assistance or to set up a time for an EHC! outreach
advocate to come and speak to your staff or event about the SNAP and the other
federal food programs. We can answer any questions for you, your staff, friends or clients. Call us!
Please use EHC!'s outreach tools:
-SNAP benefits calculator at www.ctfoodstamps.org
-SNAP info
line at 1-866-974-SNAP.
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End
Hunger CT! Inc. is dedicated to ending hunger and promoting healthy nutrition.
We do this by promoting access to federal nutrition assistance programs, speaking
out to raise awareness of hunger in the state of Connecticut, and advocating
for positive change
of local, state and national programs to alleviate hunger. End Hunger CT! provides SNAP (formerly Food Stamp)
outreach/training and assistance in Hartford, New London, Tolland, and Windham
counties. Child nutrition services include Summer Food Service Program
participation grants and School Breakfast Programs.
Inside Saint Anne's Church, Beth Ferrari, chair of the Avon Region United Way regional advisory board, and Suzette Strickland of End Hunger Connecticut review materials from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)  |
SNAP Outreach Staff
Hartford/Tolland
Counties
Suzette Strickland 860.560.2100
ext. 305
Windham County
Carl Askainen 860.874.5349
New London County
Phyllis Cappuccio 860.449.2053
SNAP Bi-Lingual
Advocate
Yaira Arroyo 860.560.2100 ext. 306
Dawn Crayco
860.560.2100 ext. 303
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Join the Walks Against HungerCourtesy of CT Food Bank
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Connecticut Food Bank Walks Against Hunger
An opportunity for people of all ages to take to the streets and highlight the hunger problem in Connecticut and raise money for hunger-relief efforts at the same time. CFB will be launching its first ever Greater Bridgeport Walk Against Hunger this year.
Walk on your own or with a team on
-April 18th, in Bridgeport, at Beardsley Park
-April 25th, in Waterbury, at Library Park
-May 2nd, in New Haven, at East Rock Park
Register here today.
Courtesy of Foodshare
 
Foodshare Walk Against Hunger:
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Join music,
prizes, fun, and most importantly, the fight to stop
hunger! Thousands
of community members are expected to take part in the annual Walk
Against Hunger, on Sunday, May 2. Last year's Walk raised over
$482,000. The need is higher, so the goals is higher at $500,000!
Register here today.
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New Research and Resources
United States Department of Agriculture's FY 2009: Annual Report on Food Assistance
Robert Wood
Johnson: How Healthy Is Your Health Rankings Give First County-by-County
Snapshot of Health in Each State www.countyhealthrankings.org.
Healthier Students Are
Better Learners: A Missing Link in Efforts to Close Achievement Gap
Children's HealthWatch: Rx for Hunger: Affordable Housing
This report confirms that increased support for
subsidized housing must be part of the strategy for ending childhood hunger.
National Governors' Association: Ways States Can Maximize National School Lunch Program
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Lucy Nolan
End Hunger Connecticut! |
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