Authored by Columbia, S.C. Mayor Daniel Rickenmann and Alexandria, Va. Mayor Alyia Gaskins
On behalf of NLC strategic partner Share Our Strength, the following letter invites mayors to join a nonpartisan mayoral coalition, the Mayors Alliance to End Child Hunger.
To our fellow city leaders:
We want you to join us by taking our pledge to fight childhood hunger. This moment demands new perspectives and ways of working together. We would value having your voice in the Mayors Alliance.
We are the leaders of the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, a nonpartisan coalition representing more than 600 mayors across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., from large and medium cities to smaller communities and townships, that works in partnership with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign to ensure that every child has the healthy food they need to thrive. Over the past four years, the Mayors Alliance has made a meaningful impact in ending child hunger, including engaging in collective advocacy on critical issues such as defending SNAP from harmful cuts and investing in practical, community-centered solutions to end childhood hunger nationwide.
As the Chair of the Mayors Alliance (Rickenmann), I believe that childhood hunger is one of the most solvable challenges we face, and it hits close to home for me — as a former restaurateur who understands the power of a good meal and as the husband of a pediatrician who sees every day how nutrition shapes a child’s life. In Columbia, we have taken bold steps to expand food access, from the Grocery Access Pilot (GAP) program to offering support to the 65,000 Richland County residents who are experiencing food insecurity. Through the GAP program, 75 percent of participants have overwhelmingly supported their continued involvement, and the city has seen how public-private partnerships demonstrate the power of combining resources and technology to address community challenges.
As the Vice-Chair of the Mayors Alliance (Gaskins), I bring firsthand experience of food insecurity from my childhood. I draw on my lived experience to highlight the impacts of federal and state policies on children. Through this platform, I am honored to ensure that kids in Alexandria and beyond have the opportunity to reach their full potential. In my community, I’m proud to be launching a Community Childhood Care Connector Initiative that will strengthen families’ access to healthy foods by providing personalized navigation, outreach and federal program promotion, as well as hands-on application support, to households experiencing or at risk of food insecurity.
We are working across party lines to shape and invest in innovative, community-driven outcomes to end child hunger. Mayors are implementing summer grocery benefits for kids when school is out of session, helping families access SNAP and other anti-hunger programs and expanding locations and outreach efforts for free summer meal programs for kids.
Sincerely,
Mayor Daniel Rickenmann
Chair, Mayors Alliance
Columbia, South Carolina
Mayor Alyia Gaskins
Vice-Chair, Mayors Alliance
Alexandria, Virginia
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