Summer Feeding For All
An American Friends Service Committee of the Appalachian Center for Equality (ACE)
project
These plates were part of an advocacy strategy during the 2020 legislative session
to push forward a bill called Summer Feeding for All, which would have made inroads
in school systems to expand out-of-school feeding programming and facilitate
better collaboration across all sectors of the community. In order to reach more
hungry kids with transportation and other barriers who are currently missing
out on those crucial food programs, we need a state-level policy shift that sets
the bar higher when it comes to reaching food insecure students outside of the
normal school day. This action was co-led by elementary to high school students
in Boone and Cabell county.
Younger students made the plates in response to the prompt "what does it feel like
to be hungry?" ... They were brought to the capitol and put on every house members'
desk on the last day of session (3-7-2020) even though the bill had died. Students
went to the session to do a final action to get pledges from representatives
to support the bill the following year.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 72
Though a bill has still not been passed, the Senate Education Committee did originate
a study resolution during the last week of the 2021 Legislative session: A bipartisan
group of senators sponsored this resolution (
SCR 72) to request a study to examine this issue and develop recommendations.
The Joint Committee on Government and Finance has been tasked to carry this work
forward and present their findings during the 2022 Legislative Session. The current
bill has since been renamed as the WV School Food Emergency Act to encompass
improvement to summer feeding and during the entire year when students are out
of school for non-instructional days whether it be an emergency or a planned
school calendar day or week.
More about Resolution 72
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