Would you roll your eyes if I told you we can eliminate childhood poverty in this country?
 
What if I told you that we have, in fact, tried a policy that did decrease childhood poverty by half? Do you think our political leaders would double down on that policy or eliminate it?

Well, you won’t have to research too deeply in our history to know that. In 2021, Congress expanded the child tax credit, dramatically reducing childhood poverty in America by almost half in less than a year. Then, in 2022, Congress let that expire. Surprise! The latest report from the Census Bureau released just last week found that childhood poverty has increased more than two-fold from the previous year.

We have the policy tools to end childhood poverty. We have the money to end childhood poverty (if anyone tells you otherwise, point them to the bloated military budget). What we don’t have is the political will to do what is right.

In the meantime, nonprofits like HIP are struggling to pick up the slack to ensure children in our neighborhoods are not going hungry.

We shouldn’t need to do this. But here we are. And the only way we can do this is with your support. Consider donating to HIP if you can afford to so that children and families won’t have to go hungry when they are already busy and stressed navigating a new school year.

But please don’t stop there.

If you are as outraged with our lawmakers as I am for letting the expanded child tax credit expire, knowing full well the human implications of that, send them a personalized note and ask them to support SNAP and other provisions in the Farm Bill that will increase food security.

This is an especially hard year for us at HIP. Reduced funding from the government combined with increasing demand and high inflation are impacting our ability to carry out all our programs effectively. If you can afford to make a gift to help provide food for families struggling to make ends meet, please donate to HIP today. If you are not able to donate now, consider volunteering with us.

Don’t forget to keep the pressure on Congress. Ending childhood hunger is not a pipe dream. It will happen if we all demand it.