Tusk Philanthropies Announces 2021 Anti-Hunger Campaigns As More Than 50 Million Americans Face Food Insecurity Amid Covid-19

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Tusk Philanthropies, the nonprofit created by venture capitalist and political strategist Bradley Tusk, announced it is funding five state campaigns in 2021 to expand access to food programs for vulnerable populations.

Tusk Philanthropies funds, develops, and manages campaigns to pass laws that enable states to take advantage of existing federal funding for meal programs and nutrition assistance. To date, Tusk Philanthropies has helped secure more than $176 million in federal funding to support regular school meals programs serving more than 2.1 million food insecure children in 14 states.

"So many programs that could feed people desperately in need – children, senior citizens, college students – are right on the cusp of being politically palatable. Our work is to provide that extra push – to use our political skills and our money to fund and run the campaign to pass ideas like Breakfast After the Bell or making it easier for seniors to receive SNAP benefits," said Tusk. 

"Last year, nearly one in four American households experienced food insecurity, and those numbers continue to rise," said outgoing Tusk Philanthropies President Sheila Nix. "Despite the legislative and budget challenges of 2020, we were able to work alongside our grantees to secure more than $31.1 million in federal funding to provide regular school meals for more than 220,000 children, and helped more than 1.4 million seniors secure their SNAP benefits. We are determined to continue that progress and we believe we have chosen the right partners to help make it happen." Nix recently departed Tusk Philanthropies to join the Biden Administration.

In the 2021 legislative session, Tusk is funding campaigns in five states with the following partners on the ground:

• Arizona Food Bank Network: Campaign to increase access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for 160,000 seniors by eliminating administrative barriers through the Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP).
• Maryland Hunger Solutions: Campaign to increase access to anti-hunger services for two-and four-year higher education institutions.
• Mass Law Reform Institute: Campaign to maximize federal dollars to feed college students and lay the groundwork for Hunger Free Campus legislation.
• Feeding Texas: Campaign to increase access to SNAP for as many as 37,500 seniors by eliminating administrative barriers.
• Hunger Free Vermont: Campaign for universal school meals, which would make breakfast and lunch free to all public school students, eliminating $1 million in school meal debt, and unlocking access to $10 million in federal funds.

About Tusk Philanthropies
Tusk Philanthropies, the family foundation of venture capitalist and political strategist Bradley Tusk, is focused on making sure that people who are hungry have enough food to eat, and on fixing our democracy by making it exponentially easier to vote. Ensuring people have access to food is an immediate problem that the organization addresses every year by funding, developing, and managing legislative campaigns to expand and strengthen access to nutrition programs like Breakfast After the Bell, Universal School Meals, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To date, Tusk Philanthropies has helped secure more than $176 million in federal funding to support school meals programs serving over 2.1 million food insecure children in Arizona, California, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington. To learn more, visit tuskphilanthropies.com.

Media Contact:
Kate Preziosi
[email protected]

SOURCE Tusk Philanthropies