Poor Muppet to Debut on Sesame Street

​Sesame Street announced that a new, "poverty-stricken Muppet" will talk about hunger struggles on Sesame Street. Named Muppet Lily, her family deals with "food insecurity,"  and will part of a prime-time special with country singer Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly Williams Paisley called "Growing Hope Against Hunger," to air Oct 9.

She's supposed to bring awareness to the ongoing hunger struggles that families face in the United States. As the Paisleys said in the statement, "Food insecurity is a growing and difficult issue for adults to discuss, much less children."

The Oct. 9 show will show kids telling personal stories of their families struggling with hunger, and will also show how some families deal with it, including food drives and assistance programs.

According to the statement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that 17 million American children have limited or uncertain access to food. And 9.6 million of these children are under the age of 6, which prompted Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind "Sesame Street," to launch a "Food For Thought: Eating Well on a Budget" initiative.