Multi-Platinum, Grammy Award Winner Monica to Represent Feeding America at the 41st Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus

Recording Artist to Speak About Child Hunger

CHICAGO, Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Feeding America announced today multi-platinum, Grammy award-winning recording artist, Monica, will speak at the 41st Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBCALC) Issue Forum in Washington, D.C. today  from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.  Monica will be a panelist on a session about child hunger in the African-American community titled "Is Black America Fit for Life?"  

African Americans continue to suffer disproportionately from hunger.  According to the USDA, more than one in four African-Americans, or 10 million, is at risk of hunger, including more than one-third of African-American children who live in food-insecure households, meaning they do not always know where they will find their next meal.

Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap study, released in March 2011, found that unemployment is a strong driver of food insecurity. The latest U.S. Census shows the number of African-Americans living in poverty rose to 10.7 million, up 1.6 percent. In all, 27.4 percent of blacks were living in poverty between 2009 and 2010.

Hosted by Rep. Marcia Fudge, the purpose of the forum is to equip attendees with information on issues such as obesity, hunger and poverty that are threatening Black America (especially its children) and to discuss what needs to happen to reverse these trends.  The forum also celebrates what makes the Black community vibrant and how the community can build on that foundation to create a better future for Black America's children. 

Moderator and Panelists

• Moderator: Dwayne Proctor (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation),
• Panelists: Monica (Grammy-award winning singer and hunger advocate for Feeding America),
• Cornell McClellan (First Family/White House Trainer), Administrator Audrey Rowe (FNS - USDA),
• Coach Dennis Harris (National Youth Sports Program - Case Western Reserve University),
• Dr. Ron Henderson (National Education Association), and Donna Richardson-Joyner (a fitness challenge by Mrs. Richardson-Joyner will kick off the Issue Forum with some physical activity).

About Feeding America
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

About Monica
Monica entered the music scene at the tender age of 14 and quickly established a track record of history making accomplishments. Monica became the youngest female ever to have two #1 back-to-back hits with "Don't Take it Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and "Before You Walk Out of My Life" on Billboard's R&B chart her from 1995 debut album Miss Thang.  Her 1998 album, The Boy is Mine garnered pop success when paired with Brandy on the album's title track that spent a record breaking 13 weeks at #1 on the charts and earned the duo a Grammy Award. That album also boasted two more #1 hits, "The First Night" and "Angel of Mine." In 2003 Monica's chart-topping success continued when her third album, After The Storm, debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart and spawned her sixth #1 single "So Gone."  Monica's follow-up album, 2006's The Makings of Me, entered at #1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart and added yet another achievement to the songstress' extraordinary career.  Monica's fifth studio album Still Standing debuted at #1 on the R&B Album chart,  #2 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 and was certified Gold in just three weeks!  The album's first single, "Everything To Me," reached the #1 spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and became Monica's seventh #1. The success of "Everything To Me" also placed Monica within an elite group of history making superstars that have garnered #1 R&B singles in three decades - Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, James Brown and Marvin Gaye.  Monica is currently in the studio placing the finishing touches on her seventh album, New Life, set for release on November 29th on RCA Records.

For more information on Feeding America please contact:
Melissa Baer/Sunshine Sachs
212-691-2800 or [email protected]

SOURCE Feeding America