In this June edition of “Appleseed in Action”:
- Sign petition to raise Nebraska’s minimum wage
- Court decision keeps Native families together
- Fewer Nebraska kids getting summer meals
- A window of opportunity for common-sense immigration laws
- Traveling Nebraska to learn new health care needs
- Appleseed raises $30,000 on Give to Lincoln Day
Support campaign to Raise Minimum Wage in Nebraska
You can help a statewide effort to raise the minimum wage in Nebraska!
Appleseed is part of a statewide effort to gather petition signatures that will let Nebraskans vote this fall on raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour. We’re looking for volunteers to help gather signatures by the first week of July to qualify the petition for the November ballot.
Will you help us reach this goal? Click here to sign up to gather petition signatures.
We’re asking each volunteer to collect 20 signatures. That’s just a few people from your office, your church group, or your family and friends. Your support will ensure the campaign will collect the more than 80,000 signatures needed so Nebraskans can vote on the measure this November.
To learn more about getting involved, call Rachel Gehringer-Wiar at (402) 438-8853, Ext. 118 or email rachelgw@neappleseed.org
Nebraska Supreme Court makes ruling to strengthen ICWA, Native families
On May 20, the Nebraska Court of Appeals ruled that the Indian Child Welfare Act’s active efforts requirement applies to cases involving state wards who are placed in their own home as part of a juvenile court case (In re Interest of Shayla H.).
This ruling has significant implications as Nebraska increases efforts to place more Native children in their own homes and keep Native families strengthened.
Nebraska Appleseed attorneys worked alongside Nebraska’s tribes in this case to strengthen ICWA.
Read More about this key decision
Fewer Nebraska kids received summer meals in 2013
Participation in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) dropped in Nebraska in 2013 according to a nationwide survey released this week. The SFSP provides free meals to kids in low-income areas during the summer months. This means more kids in our state from low-income families struggled to find nutritious meals for a large portion of the year.
“Policymakers, state agencies, and organizations around the state are working hard to ensure our kids are getting enough to eat in the summer months, but this new report shows Nebraska has more work to do,” said Appleseed Economic Justice Director James Goddard.
Learn more: Fewer Nebraska kids being fed in Summer
Take Action for Common-Sense Immigration Laws!
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Senate passing a bipartisan immigration bill, yet we’re still waiting for the House of Representatives to act.
Over the last year, Nebraska’s state legislature passed a bipartisan resolution urging Congress to pass common-sense immigration laws, and more than 40 Nebraska organizations representing thousands of Nebraskans held statewide events calling for movement forward.
While our Congressmen are home for recess, take actiontoday. Call your representative, and urge him to fix our outdated immigration laws. When Congress is back in D.C. next week, call your Congressman’s Washington office on the national day of action to stop separating families, June 10!
Traveling Nebraska brings new friends, new view of health care needs
In May, Appleseed’s Rachel Gehringer-Wiar visited several communities across Nebraska to determine health care needs and expand the Enroll Nebraska coalition.
In talking to people and hard-working organizations across the state, we began to get a clearer picture of Nebraska’s health care needs and connected people who can help more of our people understand their medical coverage options.
Enroll Nebraska goes on the road
Appleseed raises more than $30,000 on Give To Lincoln Day
We’re so grateful to all the supporters who generously gave donations to Nebraska Appleseed last Thursday on Give To Lincoln Day!
Thanks to the incredible commitment of so many friends, supporters, and partners, Appleseed finished in the top 15 in dollars raised among more than 300 Lincoln-area nonprofits. In the 24-hour period, 142 donors gave more than $18,500 in online contributions, and we also were able to raise another $14,095 in offline gifts for a total of $32,595.
We can’t fight for justice and opportunity for all Nebraskans without the generous support from donors like you. Thank you very much to all who made gifts so we can keep working to Stand Up for Justice!