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Wednesday event highlights food insecurity in Nebraska

An estimated one in seven Nebraskans are food insecure—meaning they don’t know where their next meal will come from.

On Wednesday, Hunger Free Heartland, Food Bank for the Heartland, and Food Bank of Lincoln representatives will gather for the first anti-hunger advocacy day in Nebraska.

Hunger Free Heartland Director Stephanie Montgomery-Loder says they want lawmakers to pass two measures aimed at ending hunger. One supports school breakfast programs.

"Studies have shown that eating breakfast can improve a child’s nutrition, health, and academic performance. And those children who access breakfast at school are less likely to be food insecure. And so we know that low-income kids get more of their daily food intake from school meal programs than other students, and if they don’t eat breakfast at school, they might not have access to breakfast at home."

Loder says Food Bank for the Heartland and the Food Bank of Lincoln have seen a “dramatic increase” in the number of people needing assistance.

More information on anti-hunger advocacy day is available at www.hungerfreeheartland.org.