Melissa Sobolik, CEO of Great Plains Food Bank

At the Great Plains Food Bank, we believe that everyone should have the food they need to be healthy and successful, and that our communities and our country are stronger when everyone has enough to eat.

As hunger lurks in plain sight, one in six neighbors asked for food assistance last year, including an often surprising group – serving military personnel and their families. According to the Blue Star Families survey, as many as 125,000 of the brave people who serve in the US military struggle to make sure their families have food on their tables, almost as many as the people of Fargo. They face several hurdles, including high unemployment rates for military spouses due to the transient nature of the military, the high cost of living near many military bases, and high childcare costs. .

Those who protect and serve our country should not have to worry about feeding their families.

One action we can take as a nation is to ask Congress to create a Military Family Basic Needs Allowance (MFBNA), which would provide a monthly allowance to military personnel whose income is below 130 percent of the military level. federal poverty, essential nutrition. assistance.

We want to express our gratitude to Senator Kevin Cramer who recently co-sponsored a bill (S. 1488) that would do just that. Ending hunger, including military hunger, is a top priority for us, but we cannot do it alone. We applaud the efforts of Senator Cramer and his colleagues and urge Congress to pass and fund a Basic Needs Allowance for Military Families.