Backpacks for kids

Twenty four percent of the children in Flathead County experience food insecurity on a regular basis. School food programs help to offset this problem, but they aren’t able to help these kids over weekends and holidays. That’s where the BackPack food program steps in.

With the help of local charitable foundations, The Wave, Glacier Bank, the Soroptimist Club, local food banks and the Montana Food Bank Network, convenient sacks of kid-friendly food are placed in more than 200 backpacks each Friday and days preceding holidays.

This service has been provided in Whitefish and Columbia Falls since 2012. The result is that kids can look forward to days away from school without the dread of knowing that hunger will be part of their experience.

It is well known that a child’s concentration in school is negatively influenced by hunger. But when kids experience hunger when they’re away from school, their days are similarly altered. They can experience anxiety and lack of energy. Teachers have told me that kids who don’t get enough food over the weekend show signs of anxiety during the week as the weekend approaches.

The need is greater than the organizations listed above can sustain. Also, there are still kids in our communities who need food but have yet to be identified. Please help the BackPack program give our kids the food security they need and deserve.

You can do this by adding a designated dollar or more to your Wave dues, by making a one-time donation at The Wave, or speaking to any Glacier Bank employee about the program. Thank you for your help.

Dan Weinberg

Whitefish