Gillibrand bill would include dinner in food services program
Summer Meals Act would expand services in community centers
With the help of a group of children, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand came to the Sunset Park Recreation Center on Tuesday to announce legislation she is sponsoring to expand the federal government’s Summer Food Service program to provide evening meals in addition to breakfast and lunch.
“You don’t want to go to bed hungry, right?” Gillibrand (D-New York) asked the kids at a press conference at the recreation center, located inside Sunset Park on Seventh Avenue and 43rd Street.
The bill Gillibrand is sponsoring, the Summer Meals Act, is set to be debated in the Senate next month at the same time the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a 2010 law that requires that meals served to children in schools contain fruits and vegetables, is set to expire. Gillibrand said she wants to renew the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, expand that law’s reach and get the Summer Meals Act passed.