A MT
Healthy Kids Pack
It’s an experience you’re probably familiar with: Having a bad day. Nothing is going your way, you can’t focus at work and you’re getting irritated at the smallest thing. Then you eat something, and after just a few bites your mood completely turns around. It’s humbling to be reminded of just how much our physical, mental and emotional well-being depends on eating enough food. If you’re lucky, this experience only happens when you forget to take a lunch break. But for one in five Montana children, this experience is daily life. Kailey is one of these children. She wakes up early every morning to catch the school bus. Sometimes there’s cereal in the cupboard to eat before the bus arrives, sometimes the cupboard is empty. With her stomach rumbling until the lunch bell rings, Kailey cannot focus in class no matter how hard she tries. Weekends are even more challenging. Most kids look forward to the weekends, but for Kailey they mean a lack of school meals. She often returns to school on Mondays after not eating enough for the previous two days. Her mom, who is raising Kailey on her own, tries her best to provide for her family, but her low wages and long working hours can be stretched only so far. State-wide, the pandemic has made situations like Kailey’s more common. A recent report by the Montana Food Bank Network indicates that compared to pre-pandemic levels, child food insecurity in the state has risen by 36%.
Of all the individuals we serve here at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank in Bozeman, 30% are children. Hunger takes a toll on everyone, but children are especially affected. Kailey is at risk for increased hospitalizations, poor health, iron deficiency and behavior problems such as aggression, anxiety and depression. Fortunately, child food insecurity is solvable. Our Healthy KidsPack program provides schoolchildren with bags of weekend food at the end of each week, ensuring students return to school ready to learn on Monday; our KidsPantry program establishes pantries in schools where students can take food discreetly; and our Summer Meals program provides free breakfast and/or lunch to any individual 18 years old or younger who shows up to our meal sites. All of our programs are open to any child. You can sign your child up for Healthy KidsPack anytime during the school year (including right now). Visit our website for more information. If you’re outside our service area, contact your school to find similar programs near you. Do you want to help? There are many different ways: Wednesday, April 7
is Wear Orange Wednesday. Deck yourself out in orange to raise awareness of childhood hunger and share your photos online by tagging #WearOrangeWednesday, #MTNoKidHungry and @the_ Gallatin_Valley_Food_Bank. You can
also make a donation or volunteer your time by visiting the “Give Help” tab on our website. Your assistance will help us end childhood hunger in southwest Montana. :: calendars, blog & more @ MTPARENT.COM ::
april 2021
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