Hunger from page 39
Congress has already done a great
deal to help defeat poverty and child-
hood hunger. Over the past few years,
it has enacted legislation to increase
funding for food stamps, provided
temporary additional funding for
school breakfast and lunch programs,
and increased access for those who
most need to be provided with a well-
balanced meal.
Locally, Yad Ezra has facilitated
grants from family foundations to help
fund lunches for day school students
whose families can't afford the cost of
a daily hot lunch. More that 500 stu-
dents are being fed every day through
this partnership between Yad Ezra,
family foundations and the following
schools: Yeshiva Beth Yehuda, Akiva
Hebrew Day School, Lubavitch Cheder,
Yeshiva Gedola and Hillel Day School.
But in times such as these, it is not
enough. More funding and more atten-
tion are needed if we are to reach the
president's admirable goal and actu-
ally end child hunger rather than allow
our children to continue to suffer.
Currently, Congress is revisiting leg-
islation, the Child Nutrition Bill, which
will put our nation farther along the
road to meeting President Obama's
goal. The president has asked for $1
billion in new child nutrition funding
each year for the next 10 years.
We need Congress to fund the Child
Nutrition Bill at least at this level and
include provisions that guarantee
access to more children to be provided
with well-rounded, nutritious meals.
This bill is the most important anti-
hunger legislation that Congress will
consider this session. In its simplest
form, the bill authorizes funding for
school breakfast and lunch programs
as well as summer and after-school
feeding programs for low-income
students. These programs are vital and
show real results.
Although few deny the importance
of childhood nutrition programs, our
congressional leaders will be chal-
lenged as the economy continues to
weaken with making many tough
spending decisions. We must make
ensure that children do not suffer
more during these tough economic
times.
Do you know these four children:
The child who receives a free school
lunch? The child who receives a free
school breakfast? The child who
participates in a summer feeding pro-
gram? The child who with her mother
participates in WIC, the special
supplemental nutrition program for
women, infants and children? If not,
come and hear their stories and learn
how the stability of these programs
affect our community's children.
Can you answer these four ques-
tions: What does it mean to be hungry
in America and what is the main cause
of hunger? How does the United States
currently address the issues of hunger?
What will it take to end childhood
hunger in America? What can I do to
end childhood hunger in America?
If not, join us and hear the answers.
Bring your children and your friends,
and meet others who care about the
same questions. E
Robert Cohen is executive director
of the Bloomfield Township-based
Jewish Community Relations Council
ROBOTICS
BIOTECHNOLOGY
SOFTWARE
COMMUNICATIONS
ECOLOGY
PHARNIArrEUTICALS
Start-Up
an evening with
Nation:
The story
of Israel's
ill
THIS WEDNESDn
Economic
Miracle
MARCH 17, 2010
7:30 ""
RSVP TODAY
Hillel Day School
32200 Middlebelt Rd.
Farmington Hills, Ml
Please RSVP no later than March 15 at
jewishdetroit.org/dansenor. For more
information, contact Julie Zuckerman
Tepperman at 248.203.1497 or email
zuckerman@jfmd.org
of Metropolitan Detroit. Lea Luger is
executive director of Yad Ezra, the
Berkley-based kosher food pantry.
This event is open to all individuals who have
made a minimum gift of $250 to Federation's
2010 Campaign
Event Co-Chairs
to happen:' First there was 9-11,
"when we discovered that for years, Al
Qaida and its allies had been waging
holy war against us," and our leaders
— who knew — did not tell us.
The second was "the 2008 finan-
cial crash, which revealed that our
economy is a house of cards built on a
pile of debt so high we cannot possibly
repay it."
Changing America's Jewish leader-
ship is more difficult: Jewish political
leaders are not democratically elected
— or replaced. As with royalty, we
may get lucky from time to time with
an outstanding leader. But our "lead-
Author of
Please join us for
ers" are mostly selected and controlled
by well-intentioned philanthropists.
Many of these donors are politically
liberal, and even those who are not are
inherently conflict-averse and com-
fortable with the status quo.
Meanwhile, as we wait and pray for
more effective leadership, we need to
introduce the concept of "account-
ability" for our sclerotic Jewish leaders
— perhaps by lighting grassroots fires
under them. What about a town hall
meeting? I-1
Charles Jacobs is president of Americans
for Peace and Tolerance.
Pamela Applebaum &
Gaal Karp
Rachel & Joshua F.
Opperer
Event Committee
Laura & Mark Adler
Cheryl & Steve Schanes
Rachel Wright & Ryan
Liabenow
Host Committee
Debbie & Michael
Berger
Ruth & Rabbi Aaron
Bergman
Elena & Max Berlin
Leah Bold
Ruth & Michael Brooks
Devorah & Rabbi
Michael Cohen
Evan Colton
Robin & Leo Eisenberg
Wendy & Jeff
Eisenshtadt
Joan & Steve Freedman
Karynne Naftolin
Grossman &
Rabbi Eric Grossman
Barbara & Michael
Horowitz
Cindy A. Hughey
Shoshana & Sidney Katz
Mary & Norman Keane
IF
Jonathon Koenigsberg
Susan & Rabbi Joseph
Krakoff
Lisa & Daniel Kurzmann
Deborah & Rabbi Eli
Mayerfeld
Brian Meer
Leslie & Rabbi Michael
Moskowitz
Amy & Max Newman
Natalie & William
Newman
Barbara Nurenberg
Robert P. Roth
Karen & Todd Sachse
Amy & Jeffrey Schlussel
Robert P. Schwartz
Michelle & William Sider
START-UP NATIOI
The Seery et Isseers Ems* Mode
BAN SENOR In SARI SINGER
Casa fin.
Start-Up Nation is
about innovation and
entrepreneurship,
and how one small
country, Israel, came
to embody both.
Michele & Arthur Siegal
Ronald A. Sollish
Miriam Star k man
Estie & Rabbi Simcha
Tolwin
Lisa & Marc Weinbaum
Gwen & Evan Weiner
Wendy & Rabbi Paul
Yedwab
Rachel & Jason
Zimmerman
2010 Campaign
Chairs
Ronald A. Klein
Terri Farber Roth
Jewish
Federation
of
Metropolitan Detroit
1576090
March 11 • 2010
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