Here are 2 real ways your action can reduce poverty
& promote economic security
Check out David Letterman’s 10 Reasons Why You Should Sign letters to
Congress on tax credits & child nutrition funding

Okay, so the 10 reasons why your agency should sign on to both letters below aren’t really from David Letterman. But here are the Top Ten Reasons David Letterman would suggest:

#10—It will only take you two minutes to read and sign on to the letters.
#9—Signing on is free! It doesn’t cost you or your agency any $$$$.
#8—The letters were written by two of the Partnership’s closest allies: Coalition on Human Needs and Food Research and Action Center.
#7—The child nutrition letter will feed Head Start kids, other low-income children of all ages, and support the Summer Feeding program.
#6—The tax credit letter will return income to working families, low-income families with children, and poor college students—helping all survive & thrive.
#5—These letters are consistent with Community Action’s mission to reduce poverty and promote economic self-sufficiency.
#4—In these tough economic times, low-income families need all the help they can get.
#3—Having hundreds of local Community Action Agencies and State CA Associations sign on shows our commitment to advocacy.
#2—As state and local budgets and funds diminish, these federal tax credits and feeding programs are even more essential.

AND….Number ONE!

#1—Enactment of these two pieces of legislation will directly help millions of low-income workers, families, children, and students.

On a more serious note, the Community Action Partnership’s mission is to reduce poverty and promote economic security for all in America. Our advocacy work takes us beyond our core programs of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Weatherization Assistance, Head Start, LIHEAP, and others. The Partnership has signed on to both of the letters below. Several State CA Associations and local Community Action Agencies also have signed.

The Coalition on Human Needs and Food Research and Action are seeking local, community-based, state-wide, and regional organizations to join in this effort to show Congress just how essential these initiatives are for helping poor people and families. Please give these requests your most serious consideration and sign today.

If Congress lets tax credits for working families expire, a parent earning the minimum wage could lose $1,500 or more. This is unconscionable, especially when many families are still suffering severe economic hardships.

Don't Keep Quiet.

Please ask your organization to sign a letter urging Congress to continue tax credits for working families.

The deadline for signing is June 4th.

Click here to view the letter and the latest list of signatures: http://chn.org/pdf/2010/RefundableTaxCreditletterMay2010.pdf.

Sign on to the letter here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/125/questionnaire.jsp?questionnaire_KEY=1021.

We appreciate the many organizations that have already signed the letter. But, we need hundreds more groups to sign from every state in the nation to show Congress that support for continuing the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit is strong. Congress right now is stalled on a lot of needed legislation. Your organization can help push the extension of these credits to enactment - if you sign and encourage other organizations to do so.

To learn more about the importance of the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit, please see this fact sheet: http://chn.org/pdf/2010/TaxCreditsforWorkingFamiliesfactsheet.pdf.

 

Action Needed: Child Nutrition Reauthorization

Join Organizational Sign-On Letter: Join national, state and community-based organizations on a sign-on letter urging Senate leadership to build on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (S. 3307) with the full funding increase proposed by President Obama ($10 billion/10 years) - and the right mix of funding - for reauthorization of Child Nutrition Reauthorization this year.

House Momentum: 221 House Members already have signed a letter urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to help identify funding sources for the $1 billion per year in additional funding that President Obama has proposed for Child Nutrition Reauthorization. For a copy of the House letter and signers, go to http://mcgovern.house.gov/uploads/Child%20Nutrition%20Programs%20Reauthorization.pdf

Take Action: 1) By May 28th join national, state, and community-based organizations in signing on to a coalition letter; see posting at http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=02IumS6%2Bf2xzx9jr4fntFTQ0cIvWQfSi; and 2) Use FRAC's Tell-A-Friend feature to distribute the letter to your networks and colleagues and encourage them to sign on. (For a PDF version of the letter and the latest list of signatures (updated bi-weekly), go to http://frac.org/pdf/antihunger_signon_letter_may10_2010.pdf)