Monthly Newsletter - November 2013

 

in this edition

Thanks to Champion Lawmakers

Thanks to Children Who Lead the Way

Thanks for the Food We Eat and the Courage to Help Others Eat

Thank You for Your Voice

Thanks for Careful Research that Highlights the State of America’s Children

Dear Child Advocate,

What a year. We have so much to be grateful for but we are most thankful for you. Thank you for your support, for taking action on behalf of children and for sharing CDF’s  publications, news releases, and policy priorities with your friends, family and networks. Our 40th Anniversary year has reached a crescendo as our work and children’s needs are being heard loud and clear in Washington and around the dinner table — and it’s all thanks to you.

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As a token of our appreciation, we want to share our 40th Anniversary Champions Changing the Odds for Children Campaign program book with you. In it you will find stories of alums of CDF’s on-the-ground education, youth development, training and leadership programs, which have touched the lives of more than 125,000 children and young adults and helped more than 800 low-income high school students go to college and pursue their dreams. Enjoy the stories of CDF’s impact and please share the book with others. Help us continue our work with a recurring donation and join us on December 3rd for #GivingTuesday, a new movement to create a national day of giving back to kick off the holiday giving season.

 

Thanks to Champion Lawmakers

happy-triumphant-boy.jpgWe are grateful for a bi-partisan group in Congress -- Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Congressman George Miller (D-CA) and Congressman Richard Hanna (R-NY) -- who stepped forward for our youngest children this month. They introduced the Strong Start for America’s Children Act (S.1697, H.R. 3461) which expands critical access to high-quality early development and learning programs for children birth through age five. CDF President Marian Wright Edelman said, “Offering children birth through five a continuum of quality early childhood supports will reduce poverty, level the playing field and strengthen our future generations and workforce. It is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. We all need to contribute to make it happen. We all stand to benefit.” Now it’s up to us to make sure the rest of Congress makes early childhood investments a priority. Contact your members of Congress today.


Thanks to Children Who Lead the Way

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VIDEO: Children Share their Stories

Children and youth from immigrant families living in the U.S. came to Washington, D.C. this month to learn from and march alongside leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. They raised their voices to demand that Congress take action to fix the broken immigration system and keep their families together. Through a partnership with the Center for Community Change, CDF helped train these children and youth as they prepared to go to Capitol Hill. Listen to their stories. Children showing courage is not new –  it was little Ruby Bridges leading the way to desegregating schools and the Birmingham Children’s March that opened the nation’s eyes to the injustice of Jim Crow. “[The immigrant rights movement] is just an extension of the Civil Rights Movement — it never ended. It’s going to continue until we get what we want, which is comprehensive immigration reform,” said Jenni Martinez, 16. Watch a powerful video of young leaders confronting House Speaker John Boehner about what he will do to keep children and their families together. Urge your members of Congress to support immigration reform now that includes a pathway to citizenship.  


Thanks for the Food We Eat and the Courage to Help Others Eat

As we prepare our Thanksgiving feasts with friends and family, let us not forget those who struggle to put food on the table. More than 1 in 5 children in our wealthy country — 15.9 million — live in families who don’t always know how they will get their next meal. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, lifted 2.2 million children out of poverty last year. It’s a lifeline for children in families struggling to afford the food they need. As Congress considers a Farm Bill with more than $40 billion in cuts to SNAP, let’s show our love and compassion by raising our voice against child hunger.

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Tweet #SNAPWorks to your elected officials, and spread the word by sharing this infographic on Facebook.


Thank You for Your Voice

The congressional Budget Conference Committee faces a December 13 deadline for an agreement on the 2014 federal budget. The Committee is struggling for a compromise to replace part or all of sequestration, the across-the-board automatic spending cuts, for the next two years.   

We are deeply thankful for your voice in these budget battles. As the deadline approaches, we must now redouble our call to end sequestration, and demand that Congress makes responsible investments in children instead of abdicating leadership with across-the-board cuts that hurt many children. In 2013, 57,000 children were cut from Head Start and Early Head Start as a result of the sequestration budget cuts. Any changes to sequestration must be done in a balanced way so defense cuts are not lifted while critical investments in children continue to be cut. Additionally, the few programs serving the most vulnerable that were exempted from sequestration must remain exempt from cuts. CDF believes that any final budget deal must ensure the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their fair share while protecting investments in children from cuts. 

Tell your member of Congress to ‘Be Careful What You Cut’! Send a message to your representatives letting them know that you want them to end sequestration and support investments in early childhood programs that will benefit children and our nation’s economy.


Thanks for Careful Research that Highlights the State of America’s Children

Stay tuned and be prepared to close out the year with action when we release our signature State of America’s Children report in early December. With child poverty at record high levels, the state of America’s children is far from where it needs to be and we will sound the alarm and call our nation to action as the budget committee nears its deadline. We look forward to sharing our new research on the state of our children with you, hope you will find it a valuable tool for advocacy, and ask that you share it broadly with your friends and networks.

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