Rotary helps make sure kids have meals during break
Columbia Falls Rotarians recently did some heavy lifting for the Land to Hand food program for school kids.
Hungry Horse News
Members of the Columbia Falls Rotary, along with staff and volunteers of Land to Hand Montana, delivered more than 300, 15-pound bags of groceries to four schools in March to help provide food for children who would miss their free lunches during spring break.
Eight Rotary volunteers helped load the bags into vans and trucks for delivery to four Columbia Falls Schools: Glacier Gateway and Ruder Elementary Schools, and Columbia Falls Junior and senior High Schools. The bags, packed by Land to Hand staff and volunteers, provided food to children served by the schools’ free lunch programs and are an extension of Land to Hand’s Weekend Backpack Program, which supplements children’s food requirements on weekends.
Almost half of the bags went to Glacier Gateway; 61 to Ruder, 50 to the high school and 28 to the junior high school. Similar deliveries occur before Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.
“We’re always looking for ways to either help financially, or with our members’ time, and in some cases, muscle, to help with needs in Columbia Falls. That’s the Rotary mission,” said club President Doug Davidson. “Our help goes much farther in the community when we can team with other non-profit service organizations, such as Land to Hand.”
Land to Hand has been active in the valley for several years, first known as Farm Hands – Nourish the Flathead. In addition to the Weekend Backpack Program, the organization runs “Food for All” programs that connects community members with locally grown food, primarily at farmer’s markets in Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Kalispell.
For more information about Land to Hand, go to www.landtohandmt.org. For the latest about Columbia Falls Rotary go to www.facebook.com/CFallsRotary.