Actress Dascha Polanco is teaming up with food brand, Knorr, for a unique voter registration program called #FeedTheVote. The new initiative targets food-insecure families, a demographic that tends to have low participation in voting.
When it comes to elections, she said, "It's important that we educate ourselves, but also make educated decisions. And make it easily accessible to register to vote and feel the importance of our voice and how we can seek change at the ballot boxes."
It is also important to encourage civic engagement and spread the word in those communities, Polanco said, "I think being a part of these initiatives, where we are making it easily accessible for those [potential voters], whether it's visiting the page, providing a link, I think we have to have these conversations. #FeedTheVote will be able to spread all the information."
The purpose of the #FeedTheVote campaign is to help raise awareness about the roughly 54 million Americans who experience hunger in the United States. In partnership with UnidosUS and Feeding America, the campaign will offer families free, healthy meals and provide on-the-ground voter support in key swing states.
Polanco has a personal connection to this new program as she has experienced food insecurity firsthand. When she was growing up, her parents worried about where their next meal would come from. Now that she is a mom, her connection to the new initiative feels even deeper. It is "an issue of humanity," she said, and that is why she and Knorr are making the effort to ensure consistent access to nutritious food.
"This is a necessity, not a luxury," Polanco said.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at a historically low level that reflects the job market’s strong recovery from the coronavirus recession last year.
The Biden administration is extending a student loan moratorium that has allowed tens of millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic.
President Joe Biden plans to deliver 500 million free COVID-19 tests to Americans, increase support for hospitals and expand the availability of vaccines to confront a winter surge of coronavirus cases driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Former deputy assistant U.S. Secretary of State Joel Rubin joined Cheddar to break down the latest dispute between G7 nations and Russia as its increased military buildup along the Ukrainian border drew stern warnings of "massive consequences" should an invasion occur. "If Putin wants to keep on going further, there will be many tools that the financial system can use against him, and the United States, now, is gathering our allies in a way that is really unprecedented," he said.
Carlo and Baker cover the latest developments after a devastating tornado outbreak over the weekend, plus an eye on Omicron and inflation, and not even Spielberg can save the box office.
Airline executives faced tough questions from Congress on Wednesday, with the Senate panel grilling top CEOs on how they used that $54 billion Covid-19 government lifeline.
This hearing comes as airlines continue to face staffing shortages and widespread delays. Jason Ader, Leisure Analyst and CEO of SpringOwl Asset Management joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
