I have an exciting update for you guys—and a big favor to ask!

You probably saw that two of the major presidential candidates—Cory Booker and Beto O’Rourke—responded to our petition and joined our call for a child poverty question in the debates. That shows that our voices are being heard and that the candidates want this question as much as we do! This wouldn’t be possible without all of you joining me to put this issue front and center, so thank you.

Now on to the favor: the New York Times, which is co-hosting the next debate in less than two weeks, is asking people to submit the question they want to hear in the debates! Will you please join me and tell the New York Times moderators you want a question about child poverty? Here’s the question I submitted:

I’m one of the 12 million kids in America who grow up in poverty. As a child I lived through homelessness and hunger. I started working at McDonald's when I was 14 to help support my family when I should have been focusing on school. Now I’m old enough to vote, and I want to know what you’re going to do to help the kids growing up in poverty right now so they don’t have to struggle like I did.

Please click here to send your child poverty question to the New York Times. Here are some facts you might want to include:

• It’s been 20 years since there was a presidential debate question about how to address child poverty.
• 1 in 6 children lives in poverty in this country. That’s nearly 12 million children total.
• Poor children are more likely to experience hunger and homelessness, experience chronic illness, drop out of school and end up in the criminal justice system.
• Child poverty costs the United States at least $700 billion every year.
• No child should grow up poor in the wealthiest nation on Earth.

Together we can get child poverty on the debate stage—and on the national agenda. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

—Israel