Boys & Girls Club backpack program proves to be a success

This summer, the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line became the first club in Montana to provide backpack meals to needy members, thanks to concerned community members.

The Save Our Souls Committee of Van Orsdel United Methodist Church has been running a food pantry to assist the poor for years. Over the last two years, the church has seen the demand for its services grow significantly.

“I don’t think people see or understand the need,” said committee member Sandy Brown.

An article in the Great Falls Tribune about children going hungry, particularly in the summer months, got the committee thinking about how they could help. SOS contacted Shawn Tatarka of the Great Falls Food Bank about running a summer backpack program that would provide weekend meals to children over the summer, using the Boys & Girls Club as a distribution center.

The committee had intended to pay the $2,000 necessary to run the program. Then Brown received a call from Steph Straton of the Montana Food Bank Network, who offered to fund the program and use it as a pilot to determine whether Clubs are a good place to reach kids in the summer. If so the program could be offered statewide.

“It is going very well,” Brown said. “We gave out 488 meals. We are talking about turning it into a ‘family pack’ next year.”

Anyone wanting to get involved can contact Sandy Brown at 390-2005 or the United Methodist Church at 265-4232.