the announcement of participation in the Mayor's Alliance to End Childhood Hunger

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR E. Denise Simmons, Mayor 2008-2009 | 2016-2017 |2024-2025 March 14, 2024 Dear Colleagues, City Manager, and Residents, Food Insecurity is not something that just happens in other places -- in Massachusetts, currently 19% of residents struggle with food insecurity, many of whom are children. In Cambridge, we are not immune. A report from the Cambridge Community Foundation in 2021 indicated that 1 in 8 Cambridge residents are food insecure. Our Department of Human Services serves over 10,000 free meals to children at our summer food park open meal sites. The 7 members of Cambridge's Food Panty Network serve 17,000 visitors per quarter and 20% of our public-school students take part in Food For Free's Weekend Eats Program (formally the Weekend Backpack Program). In a commitment to tackle this issue locally, and to join other cities across the country, I signed on to join The Mayor's Alliance to End Childhood Hunger. This nonpartisan group of mayors, now 355 strong, was founded in 2022 to create a "coalition working in partnership with Share Our Strengths, No Kid Hungry campaign to ensure that every child has the healthy food they need to thrive." To ensure that Cambridge is active in this effort, I have appointed Vice-Mayor McGovern to lead this initiative. Vice-Mayor McGovern has been a longtime advocate in addressing food insecurity and often partnered with former Vice-Mayor, Alanna Mallon on this subject. In a country as wealthy as the United States, and in a city as well-resourced as Cambridge, no person, especially a child, should go to bed hungry. I'm confident that if any city can solve this issue, it is Cambridge, and I look forward to supporting these efforts in any way possible. Sincerely, Mayor E. Denise Simmons