ACTION REQUEST – HPNAP FUNDING: We have until February 15th to call our Senate and Assembly members and ask for in increase in the NYS Budget.
- Background: HPNAP has been funded at $35 million for five years or more – there has been no increase at all during covid. In Assembly, Catalina Cruz and Dan Rosenthal are carrying a letter from Feeding NY to increase the budget to $54 million. Feeding NY is still working on getting someone to carry the letter asking for an increase in senate.
- HOW CAN YOU HELP? Contact your local senate and assembly members and ask for an increase to $54 million the HPNAP budget (this is separate from Nourish NY).
The key period is now until February 15th when budget letters are due to the leaders. Phone calls are better than emails or texts, but even emails and tests help.- The economic crisis caused by the pandemic is not over, and wont’ be over when the pandemic ends. Previous recessions took years to recover from.
- We are still seeing need at our food pantries. The food banks went form distributing 270 pounds of food pre-pandemic to 470 million pounds of food in 2021. INCLUDE YOUR OWN LOCAL STATS FOR YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES.
- Nourish NY has been great, but we cannot handle the food unless we have the tools to do it. Costs have gone up across the board from utilities and gas to food and inflation is impacting everyone. HPANP is key because it provides operation money, including transportation, coolers, utility bills, etc. Funding for food for food pantries is critical to getting healthy shelf stable options, as well as fresh foods, including food that are not produced in NYS.
- Find your senator here: https://www.nysenate.gov/
Find your assembly member here: https://nyassembly.gov/
PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR OWN NETWORKS AS WELL!