Monthly Newsletter

May 2012

 

in this edition

Running on Empty

Beating the Odds in America

The Summer Brings Freedom

Children of Hard Times

CDF State Offices Making a Difference

Running on Empty

The Ryan budget passed by the House of Representatives would eviscerate the food stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Tens of millions of children could go hungry. Congress must stop choosing corporations over children. Big oil and gas companies enjoy record profits yet still get billions of dollars in tax breaks each year. Come together with advocates from across the country this July 22-25 in Cincinnati Ohio as we form local, state, and national Children’s Action Teams to stand up and speak out for children and the poor. Let’s stop Congress from choosing corporate profits over children and the poor.

Learn more about the Ryan budget and what budget cuts mean for children, as well as how hunger impacts a child’s health and educational outcomes at CDF’s National Conference.


Beating the Odds in America

CDF-TX Beat the Odds Winners

This week, CDF-Texas will honor these five extraordinary young people with a Beat the Odds? scholarship at the annual Houston awards ceremony. Each one has overcome enormous challenges to achieve academically while giving back to their community. Marian Wright Edelman will be the keynote speaker with a special introduction by CDF-Texas 2000 Beat the Odds scholarship winner, Moises Cedillos. On the 4th of July, Cedillos came to America when he was four. Illegal immigrants from Ecuador, the Cedillos family struggled to make it in America. Moises worked as a janitor at a day care center when he was 8 years old. By age 13 he was cleaning up after adults at a grocery store. Teachers often provided food and clothing. Through it all, Moises excelled in school. Today, Moises Cedillos is a lawyer and a permanent resident of the United States and a shining example of a CDF-Beat the Odds alumnus.

Have you always wanted to attend a Beat the Odds event but didn’t have one in your state? Register for CDF’s National Conference and sign-up to support and attend the special Beat the Odds scholarship celebration in Cincinnati, Ohio.


The Summer Brings Freedom

Next month, more than 1,200 college students will arrive at the foothills of Tennessee to begin a summer with the CDF Freedom Schools? program. The CDF Freedom Schools National Training transforms these young leaders into teachers and mentors for low-income children across the country this summer and often changes their lives in the process. Meet Jeremy Smith from Rochester, New York.

Freedom Schools Participant “Without Freedom Schools ... I’d probably be out in the street doing the things I wasn’t supposed to be doing,” says Jeremy Smith. Watch his video and share his inspiring story with others.

Learn more about the difference the CDF Freedom Schools program is making in thousands of poor children’s lives each summer by staunching summer learning loss, closing achievement gaps, and helping children fall in love with reading. Come to the CDF National Conference, visit a CDF Freedom Schools program, and learn how you can start one and make a difference for children in your community.


Children of Hard Times

Children of Hard TimesThese are the faces of the new poor. Marian Wright Edelman with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Julia Cass chronicles the new faces of poverty through our “Children of Hard Times” series. Read real stories of the desperate toll poverty takes on children and their parents and join us in Cincinnati, Ohio, as we focus on the latest research and best practices, community building models, and community and youth empowerment strategies to close the gap between what we know works and what we actually do for our most vulnerable children and the poor.


CDF State Offices Making a Difference

State Offices Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota (CDF-MN) celebrated a legislative victory for Minnesota children. On Monday, April 30, CDF-MN joined Governor Mark Dayton in signing legislation into law that will have a significant impact on the healthy development of infants and toddlers who have been abused or neglected, are homeless or have a mom suffering from undiagnosed and untreated maternal depression.

Connect with your CDF-State Office to join a Children’s Action Team to work with at CDF’s National Conference.

Forward to a Friend | Unsubscribe | Update Your Account

Copyright © 2012, Children's Defense Fund. All Rights Reserved.
25 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001 | (800) 233-1200 | cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org

Donate Now

Follow us:  Facebook Twitter Flickr YouTube

Powered By Blackbaud