FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Judith Arnold
SLACO
(314) 305-1661
Hunger Free America Comes to Saint Louis to Visit Community Partner SLACO
(Saint Louis, MO- June 10, 2022)- Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, is traveling the United States to meet its global partners across the country. Berg will meet partner Saint Louis Association of Community Organizations(SLACO) this Friday at 12 P.M. Berg will tour SLACO and meet Judith Arnold, Urban Planner and Community Organizer of SLACO, who oversees the after-school program for kids in primary school through middle school. Here they will talk about some of the food struggles of Saint Louis and how they can strengthen their partnership to combat these struggles.
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Hunger Free America(HFA) is a nonpartisan, national nonprofit group working to enact the policies and programs needed to end domestic hunger and ensure that all Americans have sufficient access to nutritious food.
They are both a direct service and advocacy organization — with each component strengthening the other. As a direct service provider, HFA assist low-income families obtain aid from government programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — formerly called the Food Stamp program — and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) so that people struggling to pay their bills have access to nutritious food.
Hunger Free America also connects families nationwide with private food resources. Because the staff works daily on the front lines of hunger, and because they empower low-income people to speak out on their own behalf, that makes HFA one of the nation's most effective advocates for improved economic and public policies.
Operating on the philosophy, "Ending hunger lifts us all," Joel and his team advocate for systemic change across the country, seeking higher wages, more living-wage jobs, and a stronger nutrition safety net. The group also manages AmeriCorps*VISTA national service projects in 29 states and the USDA National Hunger Hotline, which provides callers the tools they need to obtain government and private food resources close to home.
Arnold leads a team of AmeriCorps Vista members, too, that are working on several projects in the surrounding neighborhoods of SLACO. For example, the Seven Lots and Little Libraries projects are geared to spur literacy, investment, and infrastructure in the seven neighborhoods in the area. "We're helping give hope to residents in the community, but also assisting the youth, which will be the next generation residents and leaders," said Arnold. "Our after-school program is a great supplement for kids and parents. We keep the kids engaged in school with tutoring, keep their bodies going with nutrition, and give them fun to unwind."
About SLACO: The St. Louis Association of Community Organizations, a.k.a. SLACO is the umbrella organization for the St. Louis Region’s Neighborhood Associations. We offer support to our member organizations, as well as a variety of community-based programs.
About HFA: Hunger Free America is a national, nonpartisan direct service and advocacy organization that provides resources for individuals experiencing hunger and food insecurity, including our Neighborhood Guides to Food & Assistance, and the Hunger Hotline, which HFA runs on behalf of USDA.
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