Tell Congress to fully fund SNAP

Published 2:25 pm Friday, June 10, 2016

Snohomish County is an amazing county to live in. I am so proud of the priorities that the United Way has laid out before us to tackle poverty in our own back yards. (June 9 editorial, “United Way working to break cycle of poverty.”) Their financial resources (from the generous hearts of many individuals and companies) are going to reliable and effective organizations such as Housing Hope, Cocoon House, the YMCA, and Lutheran Community Services Northwest. This is how we act locally to end poverty. Now let’s all act nationally and encourage Congress not to make cuts to the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps. With 1 in 5 children not knowing where their next meal is coming from, this is just wrong. Our calls and letters to our representatives and senators can help to turn this around. Let them know that this is a time to fully fund SNAP to end hunger in America.

But how do we act globally to end poverty? Since you are going to contact your member of Congress about fully funding SNAP (right?), please also tell them to bring the Reach Every Mother and Child Act out of committee and vote for its passage. This bill is designed to end millions of preventable deaths of children and women living in poverty every year in our world. Our voices can help at every level to end poverty at home, across the U.S. and around the world. Thank you in advance Snohomish County, for working to lift up the lives of those living in poverty locally and globally.

Teresa Rugg

Snohomish