Thursday, May 16, 2013
Advocates for free school breakfast programs say student achievement is linked to the availability of breakfast in schools.
More schools in Montgomery County are participating in free breakfast programs, a reality that may result in increased student achievement, advocates for school breakfast said. "Expanding participation in breakfast is one of the best ways to ensure that Maryland’s children are healthy and ready to learn," said Cathy Demeroto, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions. "Efforts to expand school breakfast in Maryland are making a difference, and we’re pleased to see that the state is moving in the right direction. Still, we can build on this progress and reach even more children, especially in urban areas." During the 2011-2012 school year, 49.3 percent of low-income children attending Montgomery County Public Schools participated in the …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Montgomery County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin plans to take legal action against www.valunmasked.com, The Washington Examiner reported.
Montgomery County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin is fighting a website that anonymously posted political attacks against her, The Washington Examiner reported Wednesday. Ervin (D-Dist. 5), of Silver Spring, plans to pursue legal action against the website, www.valunmasked.com, which attacks the councilwoman for her various political relationships. The website says: "What you see is not what you get. Valerie's political career is all about saying one thing and doing another. Pretending to support people only to abandon them for personal gain." "This is not the kind of thing we see [in Montgomery County]," Ervin said, according to the report. "We're better than that, and we're going to show everybody that we're going to stop these kind of …
Friday, February 8, 2013
Participants in a 5-day "SNAP the Silence" challenge to eat on just $5 a day will share their experiences in downtown Silver Spring Friday evening.
"On 3rd day living off $5.00 a day. Woke up with small hunger pain at 4:30 this morning. Craving for food." "I was already in touch with the devastation of hunger but to actually experience the dizziness, lethargy, inability to focus and concentrate that our clients experience was a rude awakening." Two of the experiences participants in the "SNAP the Silence" challenge have shared on Montgomery County Councilmember Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring)'s Facebook page promoting the program. Ervin's initiative challenged people in Montgomery County to try and feed themselves on just $5 a day for five days, or the average food allotment for people on food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), in hopes of …
Friday, January 25, 2013
Councilmember Valerie Ervin is the latest elected official to try to eat with a food stamp budget.
If you have never had the challenge of feeding yourself with only the amount of money alloted to you by a government food stamp program, a Montgomery County Councilwoman wants you to simulate the experience. "SNAP the Silence" is an effort by Councilmember Valerie Ervin (D-Dist 5) to get elected officials as well as everyday folks to empathize with people who depend on federal food benefits, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for sustenance. The challenge is for a person to spend only $5 a day on food, which is a little bit more than the $4.28 average daily allowance per person for people participating in SNAP. "The current economic crisis has forced more people than ever to ask for public assistance," …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The program would take food that would otherwise be thrown away and redistribute to people in need.
A proposed "food recovery" program for Montgomery County that would redistribute would-be wasted food to people in need gained momentum Tuesday. The County Council approved a work group to study costs and logistics for the program, which Councilmember Valerie Ervin (D-Dist 5) proposed in October. She said the idea was inspired by the work of two University of Maryland students. Maryland's program, called the Food Recovery Network, collects unused food from events like football games and alumni parties, and redistributes the food to hungry people. The group has donated more than 30,000 meals. The work group is made up of county government and school officials and representatives from local food banks, grocery store chains and nonprofits. …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Ervin: ‘We’re turning on a faucet and only letting some drops drip out of the faucet, and then we’re pretending like that’s good enough.’
Officials, advocates and the community at large need to shed outdated ideas about the long-hailed strength of Montgomery’s affordable housing programs, councilmembers say, and come up with concrete plans that work effectively. More than a year in the making, the Department of Housing and Community Affairs has drafted a 100-page housing policy—the first update since 2001—that puts a priority on: Councilmembers want to make sure the county does not rest on the laurels of decades past, when initiatives like the MPDU program LINK made Montgomery a pioneer in affordable housing. “Before we start patting ourselves on the back and congratulating ourselves for all the wonderful things we’ve done, we still have to recognize that Montgomery County…
Friday, October 5, 2012
Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin said she was inspired by students at the University of Maryland who redistributed food that would be thrown away from sports events.
How many hungry people could government and community programs feed if food that would otherwise be thrown away was redistributed to those who needed it? Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin (D-Dist 5) is hoping to find out. Ervin announced Friday that she wants to start a food recovery program in Montgomery County based on a model created by students at the University of Maryland. At Maryland, the Food Recovery Network collects unused food from special events, such as football games and alumni parties, and redistributes the food to hungry people. The group has donated more than 30,000 meals, according to a release from the county council. “Hunger is an ever-increasing problem in our county,” Ervin said in a statement. “The …
Friday, April 27, 2012
The market's spring debut is Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
When the Fenton Street Market reopens Saturday, Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-District 5) will be on hand to speak. Ervin has been one the market's strongest advocates alongside Councilmember Hans Riemer (At-Large). The ceremony to celebrate the reopening will be begin at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Fenton Street and Ellsworth Drive. This is a huge moment of success for lead organizers Hannah McCann and Megan Moriarty. The fate of the market was challenged in July 2011 after county officials considered increasing the market's fee from $48 per Saturday to more than $1,200 each week. The increased fee is based on an hourly rate of $125 to use half of the plaza. FSM officials were initally offered the discounted rate to help determine …
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Governor O'Malley (D), state and local officials speak to nearly 1,000 people who attended the rally.
- GOVERNMENT
- Ben Gross
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Democratic National Committee held their 2012 Campaign Kick-Off Rally Wednesday at Montgomery Blair High School, giving the party a forum to engage constituents in the reelection of President Barack Obama and Maryland democrats in the 2012 election. Organized primarily by volunteers from the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) with assistance from other volunteers in Maryland, Virginia, DC and Pennsylvania, the event drew more than 1,000 people. It included State Delegates and Representatives, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), Montgomery County Council President Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) plus a host of city and local officials. “We’ve been working on this event for more than a month,” said Susan Miller, …
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Council President Valerie Ervin, a former union organizer, seeks to repeal law that gives unions great power over management decisions.
This year, the Montgomery County Council has taken several steps to rein in some of the more questionable concessions public employee unions had extracted from the county in previous years. In a county known for granting the unions virtually everything on their wish lists, today’s tough economic climate is forcing the council to restore a little more balance to the relationship. It has not been easy for anyone, Council President Valerie Ervin and the unions in particular. First came the inevitable trimming of county employees' health and retirement benefits, to help bring spending back in line with declining revenues. Then the county moved to rein in some of the more outrageous abuses that had been going on for years in the disability …
Costco Gas Man
5:16 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
I never said or implied they shouldn't get free lunches. You're a pathological liar. more ›