Food Bank, Salvation Army providing some Easter meals

About 70 low-income families in the Havre area will be getting a free Easter dinner through Salvation Army and Havre Food Bank.

The dinner will consist of turkey or ham, potatoes, vegetables and a pie, said Trina Crawford, director of the Salvation Army’s Havre Service Center.

People are asked to call the Salvation Army at 265-6411 to set up an appointment to come to the office and be interviewed.

The special program will help people “who might now have the fine dinner that the rest of us have all the time,” she said.

People will get a chance to buy dinners for a needy family by making a $35 donations at the checkout counters at Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods.

The contribution will go directly to purchasing food, she said.

Crawford said that in convincing people to donate, some of the hardest problems she faces is overcoming the fear that many of the recipients are lazy people who refuse to work.

Many recipients are working, she said, but at part-time, low wage jobs.

A lot of low-income people tend to be overweight, she said, prompting people to think they are the stereotypical “fat and lazy” people, she said.

Nothing could be further from the truth, she said.

Because they can't afford sufficient food, she said, they tend to eat one meal a day, often a high-starch meal that gives them more bulk.

That tends to add calories onto their diet, she said.

Donating to the cause will help people have a nice Easter by enjoying a good, healthy meal, she said.