Last year, many of us signed a pledge to end hunger. Now we need to take action to fulfill that pledge—by adding our voices on behalf of hungry and poor people as Congress tries to deal with the FY2011 spending bill. The process we’re watching is not pretty.
The proposed cuts will affect real people, especially those who rely on food aid and are already in dire straits.
Food aid helps people who are desperate by providing food during times of crisis and emergency. U.S. food aid also feeds children in developing countries at their local schools—sometimes it’s the only meal that child has during the day.
Yet some members of Congress are advocating that we cut this critical aid by 46 percent. Forty-six percent! This would be tantamount to taking food away from 18 million of the world’s hungriest and poorest people.
And this cut in food aid is only one of the many egregious cuts being proposed that will disproportionately affect hungry and poor people.
There is no doubt that we need to focus on reducing the federal deficit. But we cannot and should not do so in a way that harms hungry and poor people. Our spending decisions say something really important about who we are and what we care about. We have a moral obligation to help those in need—and these spending decisions will mean the difference between life and death.
As members of Congress struggle with how to make their spending decisions, let them know that we can’t just sit back and watch. We must urge congressional leaders now not to abandon hungry and poor people, wherever they may be.
Please join me and sign the petition to Congress about the FY2011 spending bill. Let Congress know that it’s not okay to cut the aid we give to our hungry and poor neighbors, be they at home or abroad. We hope to get at least 5,000 signatures by March 1 so that Bread for the World can personally deliver your petitions to our congressional leaders
(Based on an e-mail sent by Monica Mills, Bread for the World's Director of Government Relations)
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