American Forum

What would you do to save a child’s life? What would you do to save the lives of 300,000 children?

I work for the American Friends Service Committee but now I’m at the Capitol in Springfield with five other people from various communities in Illinois doing a hunger strike. We are hungry for justice. We felt this drastic step was necessary to demonstrate to our legislators the seriousness of cutting human services for the most vulnerable people.

I’m here participating in this hunger strike for my granddaughter who is a type 1 diabetic who requires two different types of insulin, and takes four to six shots every day even on holidays. I’m going hungry for five days for my granddaughter and the 300,000 children that would lose healthcare if the human service budget cuts are passed by the legislature. My five days of hunger is not detrimental to my life as the loss of healthcare is to the lives of the 300,000 children if those cuts occur.

My granddaughter will celebrate her seventh birthday on Sunday, May 31. I may not be there to celebrate her birthday but when I go home I want to tell her I love her. I want to go home knowing that my granddaughter and 300,000 have healthcare.

--Margaret Jackson, age 55, Homewood, IL

Watch her personal testimony