III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 204 

Designating June 7, 2011, as ‘‘National Hunger Awareness Day’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2011 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. 

MORAN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. BROWN of Ohio) submitted the following 

resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating June 7, 2011, as ‘‘National Hunger Awareness 

Day’’. 

Whereas food insecurity and hunger are a fact of life for millions of individuals in the United States and can produce 

physical, mental, and social impairments; 

Whereas recent data published by the Department of Agriculture show that approximately 50,200,000 individuals 

in the United States live in households experiencing hunger or food insecurity, and of that number, 33,000,000 

are adults and 17,200,000 are children; 

Whereas the Department of Agriculture data also show that 

households with children experience nearly twice the rate 

of food insecurity as those households without children; 


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•SRES 204 ATS 

Whereas 4.8 percent of all households in the United States 

(approximately 5,600,000 households) have accessed 

emergency food from a food pantry 1 or more times; 

Whereas the report entitled ‘‘Household Food Security in the 

United States, 2009’’ and published by the Economic Research Service of the Department of Agriculture found 

that in 2009, the most recent year for which data exist— 

(1) 14.7 percent of all households in the United 

States experienced food insecurity at some point during 

the year; 

(2) 21.3 percent of all households with children in 

the United States experienced food insecurity at some 

point during the year; and 

(3) 7.5 percent of all households with elderly individuals in the United States experienced food insecurity at 

some point during the year; 

Whereas the problem of hunger and food insecurity can be 

found in rural, suburban, and urban portions of the 

United States, touching nearly every community of the 

United States; 

Whereas, although substantial progress has been made in reducing the incidence of hunger and food insecurity in the 

United States, many Americans remain vulnerable to 

hunger and the negative effects of food insecurity; 

Whereas the people of the United States have a long tradition 

of providing food assistance to hungry individuals 

through acts of private generosity and public support 

programs; 

Whereas the Federal Government provides nutritional support to millions of individuals through numerous Federal 

food assistance programs, including— 


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(1) the supplemental nutrition assistance program 

established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); 

(2) the child nutrition program established under 

the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

(3) the special supplemental nutrition program for 

women, infants, and children established by section 17 of 

the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); 

(4) the emergency food assistance program established under the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 

(7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.); and 

(5) food donation programs; 

Whereas there is a growing awareness of the important role 

that community-based organizations, institutions of faith, 

and charities play in assisting hungry and food-insecure 

individuals; 

Whereas more than 50,000 local, community-based organizations rely on the support and efforts of more than 

1,000,000 volunteers to provide food assistance and services to millions of vulnerable people; and 

Whereas all people of the United States can participate in 

hunger relief efforts in their communities by— 

(1) donating food and money to hunger relief efforts; 

(2) volunteering for hunger relief efforts; and 

(3) supporting public policies aimed at reducing 

hunger: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates June 7, 2011, as ‘‘National 

3 Hunger Awareness Day’’; and 


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1 (2) calls on the people of the United States to 

2 observe National Hunger Awareness Day— 

3 (A) with appropriate ceremonies, volunteer 

4 activities, and other support for local anti-hun5 ger advocacy efforts and hunger relief charities, 

6 including food banks, food rescue organizations, 

7 food pantries, soup kitchens, and emergency 

8 shelters; and 

9 (B) by continuing to support programs and 

10 public policies that reduce hunger and food in11 security in the United States. 

Æ 


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