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North Middle School Food Pantry: Providing for Hungry Kids

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Mar 29, 2011 at 7:53 PM MDT

Story Updated: Mar 29, 2011 at 7:56 PM MDT

The free and reduced meal programs at schools provide breakfast and lunch to students across the country and here at home. But what that program cannot account for is the need for food outside of school meal times. One Great Falls school is aiming to change that with their very own food pantry.

“One of our parents became aware that we had some hungry kids at our school.” North Middle School Principal, Jane Gregoire explains how the pantry got started. “And, so she approached the food bank and they met with us in January and they removed all the red tape and the hoops to jump through and the program took off from there in a great partnership with them."

Now, students receive food and snacks from these shelves after school during the HIP HOP study program, before sports practice and games or in bags and boxes to take home for the weekend.

"There are children that you wouldn't even know that need food on the weekends,” says organizer and PTA board member, Karen Johnson. “Even in families you would never even suspect it in and they need food to be taken home. We have a lot of kids falling through the cracks who really need help."

The volunteers running the pantry want to keep the identity of those students confidential, to avoid embarrassment at a sensitive age; because, for many of them, meeting a basic need translates into better performance during and after class.

“The kids are showing up more frequently and in greater numbers,” Gregoire notes. “And they're not hungry, so the teachers are reporting they're working harder, they're not fighting distractions because they weren't hungry. They were hungry kids.”

The parents in charge say they hope other schools start similar programs, as they work to keep their shelves stocked.

None of this could have happened without our parent volunteers and out PTSA working so hard. This takes a lot of man power and man hours of going to the food bank, getting the food carting it in here,” says Gregoire. “Without our volunteers we absolutely couldn't do it.”

If you'd like to help the food pantry, contact North Middle School at 268-6525 for more information about volunteer opportunities and a list of donation needs.

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