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.
President Donald Trump said that he will sign an executive order “to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States” because of the coronavirus.
A chorus of governors from both parties pushed back hard Monday after President Donald Trump accused Democrats of playing “a very dangerous political game” by insisting there is a shortage of tests for coronavirus. The governors countered that the White House must do more to help states do the testing that's needed before they can ease up on stay-at-home orders.
Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif. 7th District), a doctor himself, added his voice to the chorus of experts on Monday, giving the commander-in-chief a C-minus.
Oil prices plunged below zero on Monday as demand for energy collapses amid the coronavirus pandemic and traders didn’t want to get stuck owning crude oil with nowhere to store it. A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil for May delivery fell to negative $3.70 per barrel.
Shake Shack, one of the chains that received money, said Monday it will return its loan to give smaller restaurants a chance to get government money. Congress and the White House are close to an agreement that would add $300 billion to the program.
Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told Cheddar Monday that the countries that drew the most concerns could take this opportunity to build better health systems going forward.
New York City won’t allow public events in June, including three of the city’s major annual celebrations: the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Celebrate Israel parade, and the Pride parade on its 50th anniversary.
Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street as oil prices collapse and momentum from a recent rally faded. Crude prices are plummeting amid concerns that storage facilities are close to being full.
The United States is struggling to test enough people for the novel coronavirus so officials can track and control the spread of the disease.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
