TELL USDA: Feed Kids. Extend Child Nutrition Waivers

No matter where kids are learning—at a school desk or at their kitchen table—they need food to fuel them. Unfortunately, because of the coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented number of kids are now living with hunger and facing the new school year without the nutrition they need to learn and thrive.

The USDA has the power to help. When schools around the country moved to remote learning last March, the USDA provided them with waivers that enabled them to continue serving school meals. But these waivers expire as soon as the new school year begins, which, for hundreds of thousands of kids, is right now.

In order to make sure kids get the nutrition to learn and grow, we need your help today. Tell the USDA to extend all nationwide child nutrition waivers through the entire 2020-2021 school year.

Personalizing your letter below will go further. To make your message more effective, please share why it's important to you to feed kids and families in need.

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Help end child hunger. Extend waivers for the entire school year.

Dear [Decision Maker],

I am urging you to extend all of the nationwide child nutrition waivers through the entire 2020-2021 school year. If these waivers are not extended, schools and community organizations will not be able to reach hungry kids with the food they need to learn and thrive.

Nationwide child nutrition waivers, authorized through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, have helped schools and community organizations operate their feeding programs in ways that work best during this pandemic. But they cannot continue to meet the challenges they face without all of the flexibilities and resources that have been in place since March. That's why it's critical to:

*Extend all nationwide waivers for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), including area eligibility waivers;
*Give schools and community organizations the option to serve meals through the summer meals programs - the SFSP or the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) - throughout the school year;
*Extend the nationwide enrichment activity waiver for afterschool meals and snacks;
*Extend the guidance allowing schools and community organizations, like the Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs, to serve meals through both the summer meals and afterschool meals programs




Not extending these waivers for the entire school year means withholding critical tools and placing undue hardship on families and burdensome processes and red tape on our schools. Children will go hungry as a result. I urge you to extend nationwide child nutrition waivers through the entire 2020-2021 school year. Kids are counting on you.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]