June 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 29

In fact, aside from schools, park and
recreation agencies feed more people than any other public agency.
While this is good news, there are
still 16 million kids who participate
in free and reduced-cost meal programs during the school year who
have no access to healthy summer
meals. To bridge this gap during the
summer, NRPA members are doing their part by creating innovative
ways to feed hungry children. From
block parties and " Playstreets " in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to mobile meal deliveries and food trucks
in Gary, Indiana, our members have
stepped in to fill the void, reaching
these 16 million children and defeating childhood hunger.
By all accounts, these summer
meal programs are wildly successful. Even during the height of
the Great Recession, they helped
put food in the hands of hungry
children across the country and
spawned new innovations like
text-messaging services, hunger hotlines and mobile deliveries - all
without bankrupting states and municipalities. Unfortunately, funding
for school and summer meals will
soon run out unless Congress passes the Child Nutrition Reauthorization before the end of September.
Failure to pass this bill means more
kids with rumbling stomachs, more
innocent children with hunger
headaches and more young people too hungry to lead active and
healthy lifestyles. In short, we'd be
turning our backs on hungry children when they need us the most.
The good news is we have champions in Congress who are committed to making it easier for park
and recreation agencies to feed
hungry children. Senators Kirsten
Gillibrand (D-NY) and Lisa Mur	

kowski (R-AK) have introduced
the Summer Meals Act of 2015,
which cuts red tape for park and
recreation agencies, as well as other
service providers, allowing them to
serve hungry kids more food each

summer meals. We're storming Capitol Hill, talking with members of
Congress, dialing the phones, sending emails and telling anyone who
will listen about the importance of
summer meals - all to stamp out

Unfortunately, funding for school and summer
meals will soon run out unless Congress passes the
Child Nutrition Reauthorization before the end of
September.
day. Passing the Summer Meals Act
of 2015 will go a long way toward
preventing hunger in the summer
months and will help NRPA members to better meet the needs of our
communities in innovative ways.
NRPA's public policy team is also
working hard to make sure that no
child ever goes hungry and is urging Congress to increase funding for

the scourge of childhood hunger in
America. You can join in the fight
to end hunger by visiting www.nrpa.
org/advocacy and telling your representatives in Congress to get serious about supporting the Summer
Meals Act of 2015.
Oliver Spurgeon III is NRPA's Manager of
Government Affairs (ospurgeon@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

27
June 2015 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2015 - Parks & Recreation
