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MI Policy Pro Hailed for Anti-Hunger Efforts

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Wednesday, December 16, 2015   

LANSING, Mich. - The holidays are a time to focus on those in need, but a Michigan advocate is being honored for her year-round efforts to eliminate hunger and poverty in the state.

Gilda Jacobs, president and chief executive of the Michigan League for Public Policy, recently was presented the Hunger-Free Michigan Award by Philip Knight, executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan, and the state's attorney general. Knight described Jacobs as one who goes above and beyond to raise awareness of hunger and develop solutions.

"She recognizes the new face of hunger in Michigan, and that new face is the underemployed and the working poor," Knight said. "Gilda has invested her entire life in standing in the gap for those people."

Jacobs works tirelessly to educate lawmakers about poverty and hunger in the state, Knight said, adding that she also has raised awareness for issues that hurt low-income families by opposing a payday lending bill, the asset test on state assistance and a law tying school truancy to assistance.

Jacobs also led the League's efforts to protect the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit and the extension of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Knight said Jacobs recognizes that hunger is the first step in helping the working poor.

"If you're hungry, you really only have one problem," he said. "Until you solve that problem, you're not worried about the other things, the other issues that may be limiting you in life. Health care, job trainings, housing - all those things."

In Michigan, 16 percent of the population - including 22 percent of children - are considered food insecure, meaning they don't know if or when they will get their next meal.


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