Cortez Masto Joins Food Bank of Northern Nevada to Combat Hunger

Statement

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) today virtually attended the board meeting of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada to support its September Hunger Action Month.

"I was honored to talk with the Board of Directors of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, which is doing such important work in fighting hunger and food insecurity across the Silver State and California. During this difficult time, many Nevada families are in dire need of the supports that food banks provide, and I was eager to hear the Board's ideas about how we can do more to help them. I will continue working in the Senate to get essential supports to Nevadans, so they can keep themselves and their families healthy and fed."

BACKGROUND:

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada provides emergency food services to families through a network of more than 147 partner agencies in a 90,000 square mile service area throughout northern Nevada and eastern California. It serves more than 91,000 people each month, almost half of whom are children and seniors. Last fiscal year, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada provided more than 20.9 million meals to neighbors who were hungry. These numbers have exploded due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the start of the pandemic, Senator Cortez Masto has been working to stem the negative impacts of the pandemic on all Nevadans, including the most vulnerable. She voted for the bipartisan Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which included expanded funding for SNAP benefits and food banks, additional home-delivered meals for seniors, and provisions to ensure that students could still access nutritious food during school closures.

As part of the efforts to keep school-aged children fed, the Act established waivers for school nutrition programs that have provided school districts in Nevada and across the country with the flexibility to deliver meal services to kids even when schools are operating on modified schedules or in non-traditional settings. Senator Cortez Masto has since introduced the Child Nutrition Relief Act to extend those provisions through the upcoming school year. She also voted for the bipartisan CARES Act, which offered direct relief to all Americans and particularly those who experienced job loss due to the pandemic.

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