Northwest Harvest Advocates Update

Advocates UpdateMonday, August 19      IN THIS ISSUE Advocacy Doesn't Take a Recess Upcoming Events           Sept. 18-20 Washington Food Coalition Annual Conference Northwest Harvest PO Box 12272 Seattle, Washington 98102 800-722-6924 The mission of Northwest Harvest is to provide nutritious food to hungry people statewide in a manner that respects their dignity, while fighting to eliminate hunger.  Your Weekly Action Alert: Advocacy Doesn't Take a Recess Federal Level:   A proposal to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly "food stamps") by $40 billion may be presented for a vote in early September. We've got resources and tools that advocates can use to contact members of Congress while they are home during the August recess!  Read more     Take Action: Your Advocacy Tool Kit for the August Recess    Now is the time to contact your member of Congress who is back at home in district for the next few weeks before returning to D.C. in September. Not only do members want to hear from you, they need to hear from you. They come back home to learn about what is happening to their constituents to inform how they will vote on legislation. We need to let them know that cuts to SNAP are unacceptable and how these cuts will hurt the clients we serve.  Here is a mini-toolkit to help you plan your contact with your member of Congress, and you don't have to travel far to find them at a meeting or at their office near you. Use our updated template to write and collect messages about how SNAP cuts will hurt real families. You can then drop off the messages at your Congressional member's district office near you, or email Christina if you need assistance with sending these to Congressional members. Find your member of Congress when they visit a state fair. Attend a town hall or other event for constituents and ask questions or speak up about cuts to SNAP and the importance of federal nutrition programs. Arrange for a site visit from your Congressional member or meet with them at their district office. Christina can also help coordinate these visits. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed to your local paper emphasizing the need for a strong public/private partnership between government programs and private charities to feed hungry families in your community. Don't know what to talk about? See more resource information here.Thank you for speaking up for hungry families! Take Action Tip for our Partners: Consider writing about the impact of these cuts on your work and on your clients in your next agency newsletter. Your newsletter is an important source of information for others about hunger in your community!