Whatever your political stance, there’s little question that government sequestration will result in fewer resources to help our most vulnerable—hungry children.
As our government argues over $85 billion in budget cuts, the rest of us hold our collective breath waiting for the fallout. Particularly low-income families and food-insecure households. Why? Because public assistance programs that rely on government grants for the bulk of their revenue include:
• Food assistance programs
• Emergency food assistance
• Sponsored school meals
• Housing assistance
• Day care for the young
According to the MetroTrends Blog for the Urban Institute, “4 in 10 medium to large organizations (those with budgets over $250,000 a year), and 3 in 10 small nonprofits reported the federal government as their largest funder.” Lost funding for them means fewer resources to help families in need and their hungry children. Those who already rely on public assistance programs could find themselves in crisis when, thanks to spending cuts, those programs can no longer provide the level of assistance they once did. And so could the assistance programs themselves when the need for help outgrows their diminished capacity to serve.
Also on the chopping block are the federal administrations that organize and allocate funding for those programs. What was once inconceivable is now a bleak possibility. From the federal and administrative levels to public assistance programs and the families they’re trying to help, there were will be fewer resources to go around. And at the bottom of this trickle-down effect are hungry children. If this doesn’t drive home how vulnerable hungry children really are, what will?
But you can help. Feed Washington relies entirely upon public donations and distributes those donations directly to those programs on the frontline. Donate once or become a regular donor and you can help feed hungry children in Washington State. Whether you donate $10, $5 or even just $1, it adds up to a big difference for a hungry child. Become a Feed Washington donor today.
