Messages from Congresswoman Hayes

Dear Friend,

Food insecurity and hunger is a problem on Connecticut college campuses, and we have not done enough to address it. That stops now.

Today, I introduced the Closing the College Hunger Gap Act with Senator Murphy to ensure college students are protected from food insecurity.

The current statistics are shocking:

2 million at-risk students potentially eligible for SNAP did not receive benefits in recent years. 30% of University of Connecticut students report skipping meals. 30% of undergraduate Eastern Connecticut State University students report being food insecure.

I met with students, food pantry directors and college officials this spring, who told me something I was already familiar with from my experience in the classroom: food insecurity isn’t just a hunger problem- it is a threat to college completion.

It's simple:

Hungry students don’t learn.

The Closing the College Hunger Gap Act would mandate that the Department of Education notify low-income students of their food stamp eligibility when they are applying for federal student aid. This is the first step to ensuring that all students have access to the resources they need to help them succeed.

Our kids are trying to get an education- we must at least ensure they don't go hungry doing it.

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