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We hope this email finds you in community. This week, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of George Floyd's murder. We celebrate and find solace in the jury's ruling, but recognize there will be no justice for Black lives in the US, as long as our country continues to suffer from police brutality, systemic racism, and white supremacy. Recently, another act of senseless violence in Indianapolis resulted in the deaths of 8 people, 4 of whom were members of the Sikh community. We stand in solidarity with all those grieving losses to race-based violence. unBox affirms its identity as an antiracist organization, and we pledge our continued commitment to combating racism in the United States.
Furthermore, this Earth Day and all days, we acknowledge that the land upon which so many of us stand, is the territory of native people. We honor with gratitude the land itself, and the people who have stewarded it for generations. Working remotely, we each endeavor to educate ourselves about our local regions' human histories, narratives often deeply intwined with colonialism, and also native resilience and survivance. This Earth Day, please reflect on the land beneath your feet, and learn, acknowledge, and honor its native origins.
We acknowledge that race-based oppression, violence, and inequality are among the root causes of hunger and poverty. Therefore, combatting racism is an essential part of our mission and is necessary for challenging food insecurity and food injustice. We invite all to contribute to our mission alongside us.
Tomorrow, we'll meet for our bi-weekly Team Call at 9 am PST/12 pm EST. Click this link to add the bi-weekly invitation to your calendar or join directly using this Zoom link (PW: 278840).
Tomorrow's Call Agenda:
- unBox's Policy Updates + Action Items
- unBox member and UCLA Public Policy graduate student Kyle Winterboer will be presenting on his work to expand college student SNAP eligibility on UCLA campus! Kyle’s research assesses UCLA’s efforts to certify departments as “Local Educational Programs that Increase Employability” and thus obtain departmental exemptions, and discusses student-provided SNAP enrollment resources. Evaluating these programs’ impacts on his and his peers’ SNAP application experiences, Kyle shares recommendations for expanding college SNAP access, that can inform the work of student and staff campus organizers, university leadership, and policymakers. Read this primer on Kyle's work and join for his presentation!
- CEO of Hunger Free America Joel Berg's Policy Run-down
- Advisor updates, unBox project updates, announcements
unBox Team Spotlights:
- The Menus of Change University Research Collaborative monthly newsletter - reaching many among MCURC's network of over 250 members, 68 institutions, as well as sponsors, fellows, and alumni - spotlighted unBox's efforts to spread the word about SNAP eligibility for college students! It circulated a blurb highlighting the recent SNAP student eligibility expansions and a template for spreading the word on member campuses. Spread the word on your campus using this signage template (add your school’s logo to the template by uploading the PDF to Canva or Adobe Illustrator and adding your logo to the white banner, or use Canva to edit the template from this link directly!)
Policy Spotlight - CA S.B. 464 (Food4All):
- The issue: Many immigrants are explicitly and unjustly excluded from CalFresh (SNAP) and the state-funded California Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This policy denies entire communities the positive health and economic benefits of CalFresh participation, deepening disparities based on racial discrimination.
- The bill: S.B. 464 (Hurtado) would modernize the California Food Assistance Program to provide state-funded nutrition benefits to all Californians ineligible for CalFresh solely due to their immigration status. It is Food4All Action week! Today is the Food4All Social Media Storm! Explore Nourish CA's Advocacy Toolkit and tweet!
Stay plugged in:
Events
Reads
Actions
Job Opportunities
- AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate Positions 2021: Hunger Free America is currently hiring for their 2021 Summer VISTA Program. In-person and remote positions are available, and involve working in both rural and urban areas across the country as part of a public-private partnership to improve access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and other anti-hunger programs for Americans in need.
- ***Spotlighted Opportunity***: Apply to work with unBox partner Meals4Families - a communication tool designed for organizations that provide free meals for children! They are recruiting virtual VISTAs to expand their reach in North Carolina and California!
As always, we invite you to join tomorrow's Bi-weekly Friday Team Call, from 9 - 10 AM PT/ 12 - 1 PM ET. Join here:
Join via Zoom (Password: 278840)
Or call in via: +1 833 302 1536 (US, Canada, Caribbean Toll Free) Meeting ID: 957 7481 8469; Password: 278840
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Sincerely,
The unBox Team
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