Fighting childhood hunger in Montana

Fight Childhood Hunger Week just wrapped up in Montana, and I want to acknowledge some remarkable students who organized some amazing projects to combat hunger in their cities and towns across our state.

In 12 communities throughout Montana, 35 service projects raised awareness of childhood hunger over the past week. From Miles City to Kalispell, student-designed projects advocated the importance of fighting childhood hunger to our public and elected leaders and raised money for nonprofits and food banks which provide resources to food insecure children.

No child in Montana or our country should be hungry. The unfortunate reality is, however, that one in five Montana children suffers from food insecurity.

That means that more than 90,000 kids in Montana do not always know from where their next meal will come. It’s unacceptable, and it’s something that requires all of our attention. That is why we should celebrate the great work Montana students and schools did over the past week to help combat childhood hunger.

In Volberg, Montana, Lindsey Riley set up a food pantry at the local elementary school — an effort to provide meals and snacks to kids who are hungry at school. Katelynn Sutton in Dell, Montana hosted a community spaghetti dinner, raising money to start a backpack program at Lima Public School, so that kids who rely on school lunches do not have to be hungry over the weekend. Polson High School students were able to watch a documentary, A Place at the Table, as Taylor Rost instigated a conversation with her classmates that hadn’t been had so broadly before: Childhood hunger in their community.

We can all be proud of our students for taking action to raise awareness on this critical issue. We can also be proud of the many Montana schools that are stepping up to deal with this issue by implementing alternative breakfast models, such as “breakfast after the bell” or “grab n’ go.”

We know that school breakfast is associated with lower rates of tardiness, fewer referrals to the school nurse, and fewer disciplinary incidents. Research also shows that students who eat breakfast at school perform 17 percent better on math and reading tests compared to those who do not eat breakfast.

I am grateful that my husband and I were able to grant our second round of privately funded Breakfast After The Bell grants to 16 schools across that state that will implement alternative breakfast programs or augment existing ones. These grants, totaling $59,600, will make healthy school breakfast accessible to the 7,000 Montana students who attend these schools, more than 60 percent of whom qualify for free or reduced-priced meals.

As we conclude Fight Childhood Hunger Week, I thank the students, schools and community members who have taken it upon themselves to help fight childhood hunger. I encourage all Montanans to contribute to these efforts to ensure that no child in any community in Montana is hungry.

LIsa Bullock is the First Lady of Montana.