On June 27, Gov. Steve Bullock and First Lady Lisa Bullock announced that 14 organizations in Montana with summer meals programs would receive $72,710 in private grant funding through a partnership with Montana No Kid Hungry.
Kalispell Public Schools received the second-largest grant of the 14 recipients with $19,750. The Kalispell summer meals program has been serving students since 2013 and this year added a new food truck to serve lunch in six new locations.
Summer meals programs are designed to “confront the food access and programming gap that exists for kids during summer break,” Gov. Bullock’s office said in a press release. Over 70 percent of Montana counties have at least one summer meal site, totaling 239 sites statewide. Fifty new sites were added across the state last year.
“Communities across Montana are working hard to increase the number of kids who have access to meals during the summer break, and as a result, we are making sure that more kids have the food they need 365 days a year,” Gov. Bullock said. “This is good for Montana’s kids and families, our economy, and our state’s future.”
Montana No Kid Hungry is a division of the national No Kid Hungry program that seeks to end child hunger. In Montana, the program partners with the office of Gov. Bullock, the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), the Office of Public Instruction (OPI), Montana Food Bank Network, and the national nonprofit Share Our Strength.
Montana No Kid Hungry offers grants to summer meals programs through support from private donors such as Round It Up Montana, BNSF Railway and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, among others.
Kalispell is one of four summer meals programs to launch mobile food trucks this year, joining Helena, Missoula and Sidney. There are now eight total summer meals food trucks operating in Montana.
“The trucks help address transportation issues in areas where children lack means of transportation to fixed sites and help to boost summer meal participation,” Bullock’s office stated.
To find the summer meals program site closest to you text “Food” to 877-877. For more information on Montana No Kid Hungry visit www.mt.nokidhungry.org.