On Wednesday, September 28, the Biden-Harris Administration will host the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Their goal is to end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030, so that fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Each year, over 13 million American children face food insecurity — that is one in six children struggling with access to food each day. And unfortunately, hunger disproportionately impacts underserved communities. This has been exacerbated by the current challenging economic times where struggling families now face rising food costs as well as transportation costs to access food, especially if living in a food desert^*. In addition, the constant upheavals faced from the COVID-19 pandemic are still a reality for so many people.

As part of the White House’s preparation efforts for this conference, Blessings in a Backpack’s leadership submitted input, and volunteers from across the country presented testimonials highlighting the critical need that a bag of food each Friday provides for a child over the weekend. It is our hope that having this crisis brought to light at the national level creates scrutiny and awareness to the issues at hand, followed by tangible action items resulting from the conference. The passionate team of Blessings in a Backpack is at the ready to keep increasing the number of hunger-free weekends for children nationwide each year if provided with the necessary support and resources to do so.

Click here for more information on the White House Conference.

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^*Food desert: an urban area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food.