Angelina Jolie is very sensitive to the number of children who suffer from hunger in the United States.
On Tuesday, Jolie joined a Zoom call led by No Kid Hungry, the organization working to feed children across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The activist and Oscar winner has already donated $1 million to the organization and has continued to stay involved, shining a light on the food insecurity that thousands of children still face.
Jolie, who has advocated for refugees around the world for years as a special envoy to the UNHCR, said she got involved with No Kid Hungry after realizing the scale of the situation in America.
“I knew there were problems in America, that there was poverty, but I couldn’t believe when I realized how many schoolchildren in America depended on a meal to keep from going hungry” , she said during the call. “I was so disgusted that we had gotten to this point as a country and were letting the most vulnerable end up in such a state. I can’t imagine how these parents feel.
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In a previous statement, Jolie, 44, highlighted how many children rely on school meals every day to keep them from going hungry. With schools across the country closing in hopes of curbing the spread of COVID-19, they no longer have that guaranteed meal — and she wants to make sure they’re fed.
“As of this week, more than a billion children are out of school around the world due to coronavirus-related closures,” Jolie said in a statement in late March. “Many children depend on the care and nutrition they receive during school hours, including nearly 22 million children in America who rely on food assistance. No Kid Hungry makes dedicated efforts to reach as many of these children as possible.
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No Kid Hungry has already released more than $11.6 million in grants with more to go to 454 school districts and organizations across the country. The organization now provides approximately 4.5 million meals every day.
Parents and guardians in some states looking for meals for their children can text “FOOD” (or “COMIDA”) to 877-877 to find emergency food distribution sites in their neighborhood. Other states will be added over time.
Jolie also urged Congress in a letter this week to increase its food assistance to affected families through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“Many of America’s most vulnerable children have missed nearly 740 million school meals, due to closures resulting from the rapid spread of the coronavirus. As parents face job losses and salary, many of these children are hungry,” she wrote in the newspaper. letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to USA Today.
“While strengthening SNAP will not alleviate all of the challenges low-income families face during the public health emergency, it will help ensure that fewer children go to bed hungry in our country,” he said. she declared.
