The Child Nutrition Reauthorization workgroup is meeting again! The workgroup last collaborated to successfully secure the supper waiver for Wisconsin in October 2009. Now, the child nutrition reauthorization process is in full swing and we need the help of Voices Against Hunger members and concerned citizen advocates to ensure the strongest CNR bill possible.

Congress has an opportunity right now to change the child nutrition programs that help feed millions of American children. Child Nutrition Reauthorization, which happens once every five years, involves all of the federal child nutrition programs, including summer meals, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program), CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program), and school breakfast and lunch. These programs are critically needed safety nets in a tough economy that help children get healthy meals year-round. The impact of these programs on children's growth and learning is enormous when you consider that:

• Almost 200,000 children in Wisconsin live at or below the poverty level

• Almost half of the babies born in Wisconsin receive WIC benefits

• On a typical school day, about 600,000 children eat lunch at school and over 120,000 children eat breakfast at school

• Over one million summer meals were served to needy children in Milwaukee - in 2008 alone!

Join the meeting of the CNR workgroup on Tuesday, February 16 from 2-4pm at Hunger Task Force, 201 S. Hawley Court. Together, the workgroup will discuss and plan action steps for the next couple of months that will elevate CNR issues in our congressional offices. Hunger Task Force wants the strongest possible child nutrition bill that truly takes a bite out of childhood hunger and helps move the country toward President Obama's goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015. We can’t do it without you!

Please RSVP to Mary Ryan at mary @ hungertaskforce.org or at (414) 238-6471.