This week, the Sesame Workshop introduced a new muppet, Lily, during a national primetime special, Growing Hope Against Hunger. Lily, a red-headed seven-year-old, often depends on her local food pantry for meals. Her boldness in addressing her situation is striking: "When you don't even know if you're going to have a next meal or not, that can be pretty hard," she tells Elmo, who admits he didn't know there were many people don't have the food they need (more than 50 million Americans, says this clip from the special).

It's hard not to fall for Lily; her straightforwardness is refreshing and inspiring. We're guessing Lily's mom or dad told her about their predicament and let her know that things would be okay. She isn't pretending she's something she's not, telling Elmo her family has enough peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to last all year. She doesn't keep her hunger a secret. She's just being herself, in all her moppy, wide-eyed, hot pink-skinned glory.