7 Utah mayors boost efforts to fight child hunger with national alliance
The mayors of Millcreek, Bluffdale, Layton, Clearfield, Orem, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County joined leaders across the country in the Mayors’ Alliance to End Childhood Hunger.
The national effort brings together more than 500 mayors from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to address food insecurity. Hunger affects 48 million people nationwide, including 14 million children, according to Feeding America.
“Ensuring every child in Millcreek has access to healthy, reliable meals is not a partisan issue – it is a moral responsibility,” Millcreek Mayor Cheri Jackson said in a statement Wednesday. “When children are hungry, they have difficulty learning, growing and thriving. »
Millcreek Mayor Cheri Jackson is joining mayors from Utah and across the country in a national alliance to end childhood hunger. | Town of Millcreek
As part of its commitment to the alliance, the City of Millcreek aims to increase efforts to support families, expand access to nutrition programs and build partnerships to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed, city officials said.
The Mayors’ Alliance to End Child Hunger, launching in 2022, harnesses the influence of local leaders to identify and implement solutions to combat child hunger.
The Mayors’ Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, a nonpartisan coalition, is partnering with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign to ensure every child gets the healthy food they need to thrive.
The organization says that through collaboration, innovation and advocacy, it supports strategies that improve access to federal nutrition programs, strengthen community partnerships and raise awareness of the systemic causes of hunger.
Aaron Goldstein, senior manager of local government relations at Share Our Strength, said the organization has seen local leaders take different and innovative approaches to combating child hunger over the past four years.
“Mayors have witnessed the challenges their constituents face, and their cities are on the front lines of responding to the short- and long-term impacts of hunger in their communities,” he said in a statement. “We have seen mayors address childhood hunger in a variety of creative ways, from promoting and strengthening nutrition programs to creating innovative public-private partnerships and increasing awareness of the systemic connections between poverty, racism and hunger. »
Other Utah leaders including Bluffdale Mayor Natalie Hall, Layton Mayor Joy Petro, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd and Orem Mayor David Young have all joined the National Mayors Alliance.
