FK Action Project for "Policy" Unit#1 "Letter To Danny K. Davis"

 Hello reader, 

 This is my action project for unit 1of a class at GCE called "Policy".  During this unit my classmates and I learned a lot about the history of legislative policy in the United States of America, and how to connects to the modern day.  Learning about thinking such as the Constitution, how different groups of people got the rights to vote, what the " Protected classes"  are, and times when ledgislation was used to opress people. We also learned a lot about the history of unions, even being lucky enough to have a group of union educators come to our class and run mock union/management negotiations to further teach us about the duties and benefits of unions.  For this action project,  I was assigned to write a letter to a person in the legislative body who represents me. And then convince them to vote yes or no on a current piece of pending ledgilsation. I chose to write a letter to Danny K. Davis (my US representative in congress), asking him to vote in favor of the "Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act" witch would provide more funding to the Child and Adult Care Food Program. This is how my letter turned out. Enjoy! 

5/18/23

Congressional Representative Danny K. Davis   

The 7th Congressional District of Illinois

2815 W. 5th Ave.

Chicago, IL 60612

Dear Representative Davis,

According to the 2021 census, twenty percent of the constituents residing in your district are living at or below the poverty line, 46% of those residents are children. With the recent increase of migrants, that number is likely to be significantly higher. Access to nutritious meals and snacks has improved school environments, not just in the lunchroom, but in the classroom as well. With dropout rates rising, and juvenile criminal offense rates climbing at an alarming rate, we simply must attempt to support our children and give them the resources that they need to grow and develop into the best version of themselves. This way, children who have dreams of making it to the big leagues just like your son did, have the chance to do so. This problem hits harder in impoverished communities. The old adage, “You are what you eat.”, actually bears truth. I am writing in hopes that you will vote in favor of the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement act. Proposed legislation plays a major role in fixing these issues. 4.7 million people rely on the Child and Adult Care Food Program. This program predominantly works for after school programs, and day care programs. This bill will provide more funding to this vital program. 

 

Access to nutritious meals and snacks has improved the nutritional quality for school food, supported healthier school environments, and increased nutrition and food quality for American children since its reauthorization in 2004. Things have improved, but it’s not enough. I attended 8th grade at St. Catherine-St. Lucy School on the westside of Chicago. Almost all of the families live well below the poverty line. I watched as my classmates brought in very low nutrient, high calorie food. Providing breakfast and lunch at school would eliminate the need for parents to send their students with a packed lunch. This would also lessen the economic burden for struggling families and ensure that the meals are meeting the students nutritional needs.

Some would argue that parents, not schools, should decide what their children should eat. That is true, but oftentimes parents have not received current nutritional information or have the financial means to do so. 

In summary I’d like to thank you for your support of the Early Child/Child Nutrition Improvement Act, you have laid important groundwork. I look forward to seeing what you will accomplish in the future.

Sincerely,

Francis A. Kerin

Me delivering my letter: 

Fk "Letter To Congressmen Davis" 5/22/23