In West Michigan, first lady promotes the Biden administration’s family support policies

First lady Jill Biden talks to camp-goers at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

In the woods of western Michigan Wednesday morning, first lady Jill Biden visited YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville  to promote federal programs piloted by Democratic leaders and the Biden administration.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) joined the first lady, who’s married to President Joe Biden, to discuss food access for school children in the summer and a program connecting kids who have parents in the military.

“Joe believes that parents shouldn’t have to worry about how they’ll feed their children,” Jill Biden said. “And we know that while grocery chains are making record profits, they’re still raising their prices. That’s why the Biden-Harris administration is fighting to lower grocery bills for families.”

The first lady’s visit comes less than a week after the first presidential debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump, a show characterized by a slow Biden and a lying Trump. Pundits and other Democratic politicians questioned whether Biden is up for another term following the debate. But Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other leaders, including Stabenow, have publicly reaffirmed their support for the campaign. Whitmer is slated to be at the White House Wednesday evening along with other Democratic governors to meet with President Biden.

Stabenow said the current president should not be judged on one debate, but his actions in the White House.

“This is a president who’s taken action, and I don’t think we’ve had a better president in a lifetime for Michigan,” Stabenow said of Biden.

It’s also two days following a Supreme Court decision granting presidential immunity to actions done in an official capacity, which most likely includes protections for Trump’s scheme to overturn election results in 2021 . President Biden slammed the decision Monday and asked voters to reject Trump at the ballot box to preserve democracy in the U.S.

It’s a big moment for the 2024 presidential campaign, as both Trump and Biden scramble to pick up Michigan’s 15 electoral votes in November. Biden beat Trump in Michigan in 2020, but Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016.

“I can tell you that the first family, the second family, has been in Michigan more than any other presidential family in my life,” Stabenow said. “I’ve worked with five presidents, and I can tell you that we’ve seen the President, the first lady, the vice president [Kamala Harris], the second gentleman [Doug Emhoff], more than any other leadership from the White House coming to Michigan, so they don’t take Michigan for granted.”

It wasn’t Jill Biden’s first visit to Michigan this year. The first lady previously visited Grand Rapids in April and toured the state with second gentleman Doug Emhoff in May for the Biden-Harris re-election campaign.

During one of her first stops at the YMCA camp, Biden promoted a food assistance program that could help some families deal with rising grocery store prices.

“Summer should be a time of joy and freedom and growing and learning outside the classroom, but for too many children, their summers are stolen by hunger,” Biden said. “And during the school year, many kids count on getting a meal from their school, but parents’ paychecks don’t get bigger just because it’s summer break.”

Stabenow led an initiative to pour federal funds into expanding food access during the summer for children. The program will make summer meals permanent.

“We want them to have, as said before, a hunger for learning, not a hunger for food,” Stabenow said. “And so I’m excited about that and excited so much to have the first lady here lifting this up.”

Other states are also implementing their share of federal funds, but several Republican governors rejected the aid.

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First lady Jill Biden talks to camp-goers at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden talks to camp-goers at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden walks with camp-goers and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow on the deck of YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy ValeskiJuly 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden talks about the presidential administration's efforts to make grocery bills more affordable for families at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden arrives at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) greets first lady Jill Biden at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden high fives camp-goers at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) discusses permenant funding for free summer meals in Michigan at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden asks children about their favorite part of YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

Camp attendees dance to "Party in the USA" while first lady Jill Biden talks to other children at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden walks with camp-goers and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow on the deck of YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy ValeskiJuly 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden talks to camp-goers at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) introduces first lady Jill Biden to camp-goers at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) learn about the food served at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

First lady Jill Biden talks to camp-goers at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin in Middleville on July 3, 2024. | Lucy Valeski

Stabenow predicted the program will feed 900,000 children in Michigan this summer. The new, permanent funding breaks up into three different categories, so families in different situations have flexibility to get food.

Diandra Jones, a parent of a YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin attendee, talked about how the meal provided at camp, funded by the program, helped her save money because she did not have to shop for lunch food for the week.

“You don’t know how much stress it takes off of me,” she said. “Not having to worry about buying extra groceries to make a lunch every single day.”

Biden also spoke with camp-goers in the mess hall about her work with children who are connected to military veterans.

“You kids are really ordinary kids doing extraordinary things,” Biden said. “And I think it’s great that you have a chance to come up here to camp and you meet other kids who are in the same situation that you’re in.”

She asked kids about their favorite parts of camp and took photos with them while songs like “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus and “Firework” by Katie Perry blasted through the room.

Later on Wednesday, Biden is slated to head up to Traverse City for another campaign event. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to headline a President Biden campaign event Thursday in South Haven.

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