The same kids who start school lacking the requisite number of glue sticks, spiral notebooks or No. 2 pencils might also show up hungry. That can be especially true on Mondays.
According to Feeding America, “It’s hard to concentrate in school when you’re hungry. Roaring stomachs cause children to be cranky, hyperactive and aggressive. Fifty percent of children facing hunger will need to repeat a grade.”
The ideal, of course, is that children start school free of hunger pangs and fully equipped with the supplies they need.
Regional charitable programs work to address both.
The Town Pump Charitable Foundation’s Meals for Backpacks is a key player in the effort to feed kids between the end of school Friday and the return to school Monday.
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“It is 65 hours from the time school is dismissed on Friday afternoon until the bell rings on Monday morning,” the Foundation observes. “Often, children in Montana go hungry on the weekends. It is estimated that one in six Montana children live in homes that struggle to keep food on the table.”
In 2023, the Meals for Backpacks program provided grants in 93 Montana communities totaling more than $550,000 to schools, food banks, food pantries and other community organizations that provide weekend meal programs to Montana students.
Meals typically include two breakfast options, two lunch options, a can of fruit and a can of vegetables, shelf-stable milk or juice. Â
Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap research, based on 2022 data, found that 13.5% of households in Butte-Silver Bow County were considered food insecure.
Students in Butte School District 1 return to school Aug. 28.
Samantha Dennison is child nutrition manager for the Montana Food Bank. Montana Food Bank’s food backpacks program is active during the school year and other providers work to provide childhood nutrition during the summer.
Action Inc. in Butte has sponsored the Summer Food Service Program for more than 30 years. The Covid-19 pandemic led Action Inc. to partner with the Butte School District to identify children who might have slipped through the cracks. In addition, waivers through the U.S. Department of Agriculture have allowed food distribution to occur away from specific “congregate” sites.
As a result, the number of summer meals served by Action Inc. in the region skyrocketed, moving from 16,341 meals in 2019 to an estimated 60,000-plus in 2024.
Meanwhile, separate efforts to help students start school with the supplies they need continued throughout southwest Montana.
Backpacks for Kids in Powell County handed out 467 backpacks filled with school supplies during an Aug. 19 event at the Deer Lodge Fire Department. An additional 42 backpacks were donated directly to schools for other students who might need the supplies or benefit from them.
Jaimi Roe, who helps organize the annual grassroots event, said any students can come retrieve a backpack and school supplies that include markers, notebooks, pencils and more. The program is not limited to low-income families, she said.
It is rewarding to see the smiles on students’ faces as they gear up for school and see friends again after the summer break, Roe said. She and other volunteers consult with schools to see what supplies are recommended. Donations to Backpacks for Kids are accepted year-round, she said.
Roe said her personal history helped motivate her participation in the effort.
“I grew up with a single mom and I became a single mom,” she said. “I have a lot of support, but not everybody does.”
