We have an opportunity to help move a proactive child wellness bill through the SC House, but we need your help! House Bill 5022 seeks to give all public school students free breakfast and lunch each school day and to extend the lunch period to at least 30 minutes each day. Learn more about the bill on our watchlist.
We’ve made it easy for you to take action. Simply click on the button below and complete the online form. Hit “Send Email” and a prepopulated message about H.5022 will be sent to your state representative.
Wholespire asked for your help, and you delivered! Now that the legislative session is over, we have reason to celebrate wins addressing healthy eating and active living for all South Carolinians. From the state budget, signed by Governor McMaster, to legislative wins addressing free school meals, Wholespire and all of you worked overtime to make sure our decision-makers heard from all of us. You can further support our efforts at the State House by making a donation to our cause.
“We anticipated universal school meals and the USDA community eligibility program (CEP) would be a hot topic this session,” said Executive Director Meg Stanley. “We also knew we’d partner with the SC Department of Social Services to support their budget requests for the extension of the Healthy Bucks program and a SNAP system overhaul.”
Wholespire aims to increase access to nutritious foods. Knowing the USDA ended the emergency universal free school meals program with the 2022-23 school year, Senator Katrina Shealy, our legislative champion of the year, focused her efforts on the universal free school meals bill and Proviso 1.68, which ended school lunch shaming and closed the gap in providing free school meals.
“We understood that before COVID-19, many parents struggled to pay for their child’s school meals,” said Stanley. “Because the USDA enacted the emergency free school meals program, parents didn’t have to worry about school meal debt, and students weren’t ostracized and food shamed for their parents’ inability to pay. That and our mission alone are why we support Senator Shealy’s bill.”
Senator Shealy pre-filed S.148, calling for all public school children to receive two meals daily while at school. Wholespire staff jumped on the opportunity to advocate for a bill addressing an issue many other states were also considering. Some advocacy efforts included testifying at the Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children, talking to the media, urging grassroots advocates to speak to their SC Senator, implementing a social media campaign, and hosting a press conference.
“While S.148 did not pass, the state budget included a proviso that bans meal shaming at schools and closes the gap to provide two meals a day for public school children starting in the 2023-24 school year,” said Stanley. “We still have one year left in this two-year session, and with the momentum we’ve helped build, we are hopeful the bill will pass next year.”
Another big push for Wholespire and its grassroots advocates was the Healthy Bucks Proviso. The SC Department of Social Services (DSS) requested a budget appropriation of $5 million to extend the Healthy Bucks program and $8.7 million to update the outdated computer system used to process SNAP applications, purchases and reimbursements. The two budget requests would help sustain and improve two programs that address the food insecurity of low-income families and senior citizens and would also impact local farmers who sell fresh produce at farmers markets that accept SNAP and participate in the Healthy Bucks program.
Healthy Bucks is an incentive of the SNAP program designed to help low-income families and senior citizens get more affordable and nutritious food at the farmers market. When a family spends $5 on fruit and vegetables, they get $15 in tokens for their next visit.
“Many families rely on their local farmers markets for fresh produce because they may live in a food desert without a grocery store or can’t afford gas to make the 30-mile roundtrip. That’s a reality for one too many families and senior citizens,” said Stanley. “Those are scenarios that lead to poor health choices, poor health outcomes and poor quality of life.”
Wholespire has supported the Healthy Bucks program since its pilot in 2014 by the USC Arnold School of Public Health. During this legislative session, efforts to support Healthy Bucks and SNAP, in addition to grassroots advocates contacting their state legislators, led to the legislature including both DSS requests in the state budget.
“We are grateful for the leadership of Senator Katrina Shealy, DSS and the Budget Conferees for addressing healthy food access in South Carolina,” said Stanley, “not to mention all of our grassroots advocates for supporting these legislative efforts.”
With Governor McMaster’s approval of the budget, Wholespire will continue strategizing and preparing for the 2024 legislative session and keep the momentum building for S.148 and other priorities as they unfold.
The State Senate placed a proviso in their budget that would allow public school students access to free school meals. Proviso 1.68 would require schools to provide free meals to all students who are eligible under the Community Eligibility Program; this would have a drastic impact on that reported child hunger rate, while also benefiting students academically, behaviorally, and socially. This proviso also enforces schools may not penalize or identify students for any accrued lunch debt. This Proviso complements but is not the same as the active Senate Bill we have asked you to support. Both measures are important and a part of the process to make certain child hunger is curbed. This proviso was not included in the House budget, so we need your help to ensure it gets approved by your representatives!
We’ve created a script to make it easier for you! Email your representative today.
Email Body:
Support Senate Budget Proviso 1.68 to address student hunger
Email Subject:
I am one of your constituents and I am writing to you today to address child hunger in our state. According to Feeding America, over 153,000 children (that is 1 in 4 children) in South Carolina go hungry daily. I am asking for your help to curb child hunger in the state of South Carolina by supporting Senate Proviso 1.68. This proviso addresses student hunger, which has adverse effects on students’ ability to learn and develop.
Research shows that when students are properly fed, the benefits are bountiful. Under Proviso 1.68, schools would have to ensure students who are qualified and eligible for free school meals through the Community Eligibility Program receive 2 free school meals a day; this would have a drastic impact on that reported child hunger rate, while also benefiting students academically, behaviorally, and socially.
Proviso 1.68 will also ensure that schools stop the practice of lunch shaming kids whose meal accounts are in debt. From the Upstate to the Lowcountry, we have heard and read about school districts penalizing children over their account status by taking away field trips, the ability to walk at graduation, and more. Students do not have control over their meal account standing, and therefore, should not be held responsible – this piece of the proviso is vital and must be included in the final budget as well.
Today, I am asking you to approve the Senate Budget Proviso 1.68 that would give this meal access to students across South Carolina and ensure that it is part of the final budget.
As the General Assembly works to make lives better for all in our state, Proviso 1.68 offers a solution to a well-documented problem in South Carolina. Please do all you can to ensure Senate Proviso 1.68 gets approval in the House and that it is part of the approved budget. South Carolina children and their families need you to be their champion. Thank you.
You answered our call for help with securing funding in the SC House budget for the SC Department of Social Service’s (DSS) Healthy Bucks program. Now, we need your help with ensuring Healthy Bucks and an upgrade to the SNAP processing system are included in the SC Senate budget.
DSS has requested $5 million in the 2023-2024 budget to expand the Healthy Bucks program, which allows families to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets and roadside stands. DSS has also requested $8.7 million to update the system they use to run Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. DSS uses an outdated mainframe system to determine SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) eligibility in the state and to process payments to retailers when SNAP recipients buy groceries. Because of the age of the system, which processes about $1.8 billion worth of SNAP payments each year, DSS cannot make updates or improvements, which poses significant risks to the state.
The SC Senate Finance Committee is meeting next week to discuss the allocation for the DSS requests, and we would love for the members of that committee to hear from you before they vote on these requests.
Do you live in one of the SC Senate Districts listed below? If you do, please call your senator any time between now and Tuesday afternoon (April 4) and let them know that you hope they vote in favor of the DSS budget requests. If you have personal stories related to the Healthy Bucks or SNAP program, please feel free to share those.
We’ve created a script to make it easier for you! Talk to your legislator or leave a voicemail and follow up via email.
Step 1: Phone Call
Call your senator if they are listed below. Use the telephone script below to convey the message. Leave a voicemail, if prompted.
Telephone Script
Hello Sen. [Name], my name is [Your Name] and I am one of your constituents. I understand that the Senate Finance Committee will discuss the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks budget appropriations in the coming days and wanted to let you know that I hope you vote to support the $5 million request for the Healthy Bucks program and the $8.7 million request to start developing a new economic services system to process SNAP and TANF benefits. By expanding the Healthy Bucks program and upgrading the processing system, families across our state will have greater and timelier access to nutritious produce and local farmers will have improved economic development opportunities.
[If speaking directly to the Senator]:
Are you committed to supporting the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks and processing system appropriations in committee? *answer* Thank you for your time.
[If leaving a voicemail]:
Again, I hope you’ll consider voting to support the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks and SNAP processing system appropriations. Thank you. [Feel free to leave callback information if you’d like.]
Step 2: Follow-up Email
Did you leave a voicemail? Follow up with an email to ensure your message is received. Use the message we’ve created for you to send.
Follow-up Email Body
Hello Sen. [Name], my name is [Your Name] and I am one of your constituents. I left you a voicemail today, but am following up via email to ensure you get the message. I understand that the Senate Finance Committee will discuss the DSS-requested budget appropriations in the coming days and wanted to let you know that I hope you vote to support the $5 million request in the state budget for expanding the Healthy Bucks program and the $8.7 million request to upgrade the SNAP and TANF processing system. By expanding the Healthy Bucks program and upgrading the processing system, families across our state will have greater and timelier access to nutritious produce, which has long-term health and communal benefits and local farmers will have improved economic development opportunities. Again, I hope you’ll consider voting to support the DSS-requested appropriations. Thank you. [Feel free to leave callback information if you’d like.]
Things are underway at the statehouse for the new legislative session and one of the first things we are working on is the Department of Social Service’s (DSS) Healthy Bucks program budget request. The Healthy Bucks program allows Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to obtain additional fresh produce at participating farmers markets. DSS is requesting $5 million in funding for the Healthy Bucks program in the budget this year. The SC House Ways and Means Healthcare Subcommittee is meeting this week to discuss the allocation for the DSS Healthy Bucks request, and we would love for the members of that subcommittee to hear from you before they vote on this request.
Do you live in SC House Districts 74 (Rep. Rutherford), 82 (Rep. Clyburn), 91 (Rep. Hosey), 108 (Rep. Hewitt), or 118 (Rep. Herbkersman, chair)? If you do, please call your representative any time between now and Wednesday afternoon (Jan 25) and let them know that you hope they vote in favor of the DSS Healthy Bucks budget request. If you have personal stories related to the Healthy Bucks program, please feel free to share those.
We’ve created a script to make it easier for you! Talk to your legislator or leave a voicemail and follow-up via email.
Step 1: Phone Call
Call your representative if they are listed below. Use the telephone script below to convey the message. Leave a voicemail, if prompted.
Telephone Script
Hello Rep. [Name], my name is [Your Name] and I am one of your constituents. I understand that the Healthcare Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee will discuss the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks budget appropriation in the coming days and wanted to let you know that I hope you vote to support the $5 million request in the state budget. By expanding the Healthy Bucks program, families across our state will have greater access to nutritious produce, which has long-term health and communal benefits, as well as economic development opportunities for local farmers.
[If speaking directly to the Representative]:
Are you committed to supporting the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks appropriation in subcommittee? *answer* Thank you for your time.
[If leaving a voicemail]:
Again, I hope you’ll consider voting to support the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks appropriation. Thank you. [Feel free to leave callback information if you’d like.]
Step 2: Follow-up Email
Did you leave a voicemail? Follow up with an email to ensure your message is received. Use the message we’ve created for you to send.
Follow-up Email Body
Hello Rep. [Name], my name is [Your Name] and I am one of your constituents. I left you a voicemail today, but am following up via email to ensure you get the message. I understand that the Healthcare Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee will discuss the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks budget appropriation in the coming days and wanted to let you know that I hope you vote to support the $5 million request in the state budget. By expanding the Healthy Bucks program, families across our state will have greater access to nutritious produce, which has long-term health and communal benefits, as well as economic development opportunities for local farmers. Again, I hope you’ll consider voting to support the DSS-requested Healthy Bucks appropriation. Thank you. [Feel free to leave callback information if you’d like.]
Where can I walk or play since my road is so busy and not safe? Don’t have a safe place near you? What if you can’t afford a gym membership or there isn’t a gym in your hometown? Those are questions that community members of Kershaw County no longer have to ask themselves. Options for safe physical activity and safe places to play have increased, thanks to the Open Community Use of School Recreational Areas policy recently adopted by the Kershaw County School District (KCSD).
The school district will begin opening some of its outdoor school recreational areas for community use after school hours, on holidays, and on weekends when the facilities are not in use with school-related activities. The board defines open recreational areas as “the playgrounds at our elementary schools and parking lots for walking.”
KCSD will post signage at the open community use sites that will include district rules and safety regulations for usage of the recreational areas. Children under the age of fourteen must be accompanied by an adult while at the recreational sites.
“This is a win for schools, children, and the community. It provides access for children and community members to play and be active,” stated Kershaw County School District Superintendent Harrison Goodwin. “We know healthy children are better learners. This is a great example of partners working together for a healthier community.”
Many community partners support open community use including LiveWell Kershaw, KC Trails, Wholespire Kershaw County, and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC). Wholespire Kershaw County worked closely with Kershaw County partners to advocate for the OCU policy.
“It’s a cost-effective policy adopted by many school districts around the state to increase access to safe places for physical activity,” said Wholespire Community Relations Manager Kelsey Sanders, MPH, CHES. “An important part of the policy is that protects against liability for schools, which is a major concern of administrators.”
SC DHEC Midlands Community Systems Team Member and Wholespire Richland County co-chair Robin Cooper said, “I was grateful for the opportunity to partner with Kershaw County Schools. Physical activity is important for better health outcomes and many don’t have access to places to be physically active. With the adoption of this policy, it offers the residents of Kershaw County the opportunity to engage in physical activity for better health outcomes.”
