MISSOULA, Mont. — Most young people don’t go to school, but some rely on school only for their education, but also for their meals.
From wall to wall, from floor to ceiling, food abounds in the Montana Food Bank Network’s distribution in Missoula, and that’s because they serve the entire state of Montana, all 56 counties, with capacity to serve a capacity of 24 million pounds. of food. And those numbers are only increasing.
Every day, Missoula pallets head out to the state banks at the treasury.
“I’ve never experienced the level of fondness and commitment with which people, not only here at MFBN, but also at every food bank in America, consider food to be a necessity,” said Gayle Carlson, MFBN president and CEO.
Nationally, about 22 million children rely on schools for their food, but that food can prevent summer when school is out, putting children at risk of going hungry.
According to the network, one in six Montana youth live in a food-insecure household.
In recent years, the network says applications have increased.
“COVID replaced the landscape dramatically, when it became a common norm, we saw lines and miles of people waiting to receive boxes of food, their food dollars not growing as much because of the cost of living,” Carlson says. .
During COVID, MFBN reached 24 million pounds of food in a year, now on average they serve about 18 million pounds.
“We’ve never been able to serve one hundred percent of the people who want it in our state, so until we get there and know that everyone has access to adequate, healthy and nutritious food, our task will be done,” Carlson said.
The MFBN is unique in that most states use food banks to cover an area. Through the Feeding America program, here in Montana, they are the only ones.
To keep pace, MFBN is beginning to build a new 53,000-square-foot facility, nearly doubling its existing capacity.
“We couldn’t do this without our more than 360 partners across the state. When I say we serve the entire state of Montana, we do it through them,” Carlson said.
MFBN does more than just food banks – it offers many systems to ensure that no child goes hungry.
For now, everything continues as usual: its fleet of trucks loads, takes off and delivers food.
If you would like to learn more about the Feeding America crusade and how you can make Montana’s children hungry, click here.
Through Feed America, every dollar donated helps supply at least 10 food items on behalf of local member food banks. The Sinclair Cares: Summer Hunger Relief crusade will be supported by a $25,000 donation from Sinclair Broadcast Group.