Lily, the Food Insecure Muppet
Sesame Street's newest character on the block is Lily, a 7-year-old girl, who will raise awareness about hunger. In announcing the new character, producers said Lily will represent one of the 17 million children in the U.S. that the Department of Agriculture estimates are "food insecure," meaning they don't always know where their next meal will come from. Though she is no less colorful than her fellow Muppets, Lily will be soft-spoken and withdrawn — traits representative of kids who don't know where their next meal is coming from. The gang's most recent addition aims to make it easier for children in need to broach the topic of hunger in a healthy and sensitive way. Lily will make her debut on Sesame Workshop's PBS primetime special "Growing Hope Against Hunger" on Sunday, November 9.