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Share Our Strength® Applauds Polis Legislation to Help States End Childhood Hunger in America

THE ENDING CHILDHOOD HUNGER CHALLENGE ACT THAT WOULD CHALLENGE STATES TO END CHILDHOOD HUNGER BY 2015 AND GIVE THEM NECESSARY TOOLS AND RESOURCES TO DO SO.

WASHINGTON (June 9, 2010) - On June 8, Congressman Jared Polis (D-Co.) introduced H.R. 5480 - The Ending Childhood Hunger Challenge Act that would challenge states to end childhood hunger by 2015 and give them necessary tools and resources to do so. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) successfully added a similar provision to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Below are statements from Share Our Strength® and Hunger Free Colorado.

"The Polis and Bennet provisions are important additions to the Child Nutrition Reauthorization legislation, critical to addressing the growing childhood hunger crisis in America. With nearly one in four children struggling with hunger, we need to attack this critical issue by arming the states with greater resources and rewarding innovative programs that reach more children who need nutritious meals. Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign is a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by building public-private partnerships to ensure children in need are enrolled in federal meals programs and have access to the nutritious foods they need to lead healthy, active lives."

Billy Shore, Founder and Executive Director, Share Our Strength

"We commend Rep. Polis for championing efforts to ensure that Colorado's communities have the resources they need to participate in these critical nutrition programs. In Colorado, we have led the way for this type of innovative strategy, so we know it works. By developing a public-private partnership with Share Our Strength, Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. and Hunger Free Colorado, we have made significant progress towards ending childhood hunger and improving the nutrition of children in our state."

Ruth Stemler, Colorado State Director for Share Our Strength

"We are heartened by this timely legislation whose impact will be positively written on the brains and bodies of our next generation. Colorado has struggled in the bottom ten nationally for most child nutrition programs for many years, at the same time our rate of child poverty is one of the fastest growing in the nation. Children can't wait to be fed until the economy improves."

Kathy Underhill, Executive Director, Hunger Free Colorado

Editor's Note:
A fact sheet on H.R.5480 - The Ending Childhood Hunger Challenge Act is available at http://polis.house.gov/UploadedFiles/6-8_ECHC_Fact_Sheet.pdf

For facts on childhood hunger in the U.S., please visit: http://strength.org/childhood_hunger/hunger_facts/.

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