NourISHING OUR COMMUNITY
Great Falls Community Food Bank is a privately funded 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the fight against hunger in North Central Montana.
10,000
People In Our County Suffering From Food Insecurity
3 in 5
K-8 Public School Teachers Say Students Regularly Come To School Hungry
1 in 5
Children In Montana Struggle With Hunger
1 in 6
People In America Face Hunger
FEEDING OUR MOST VULNERABLE NEIGHBORS
Hunger exists in our community. You may not see it. But it's here-in our schools, in our neighbors' homes and in our workplaces. And hunger most adversely affects our most vulnerable residents-children, uneducated adults, the elderly and the handicapped. We serve as a warehouse distribution center for more than 70 emergency food providers (501(c)3 charities) in and around Cascade County to alleviate that hunger. We are a vital organization that eases the burden on these vulnerable neighbors–giving them a chance to look for work, pay for vital meds instead of food, and/or study/learn on a full stomach. We stabilize lives and make a difference in North Central Montana.
COLLABORATIVELY WORKING TOGETHER TO FIGHT HUNGER
Our mascot, Dash is a squirrel, representing our mission--collecting and storing food through donations, grocery recovery, and bulk purchasing. This allows us to provide food for our partner organizations, including pantries, schools, churches and group homes, so they in turn can distribute food to hungry children, seniors and parents. We also provide weekend meals for underprivileged school children K-6 through our Backpacks4Kids Program.
BACKPACKS4KIDS
Fighting Student Hunger
For many Great Falls children, Fridays meant something different than the beginning of a fun weekend. For many, it meant a weekend of no school breakfast and lunch. It meant no food. Our Backpacks4Kids Program aims to solve that. This program serves all 15 Great Falls public elementary schools as well as Vaughn to provide weekend and holiday food for hungry kids.
Each week, children are identified by school staff and faculty as being in need of food assistance. The school staff then orders the packs of food from us and we deliver to the schools. The packs contain two days of easy-to-prepare food to help them through the weekend and school breaks when school meal programs are not available. An average of 900 packs are distributed each week of the school year. The Food Bank also distributes about 200 packs a week in the summer through the GFPS Summer Lunch Program in the parks.
CANTASTIC
CREATING ART TO FEED THE HUNGRY
Feeding the hungry is hard work-and it can be taxing. But sometimes, it's fun! Our signature event features local teams creating amazing structures from canned food. With the help of local architects, the teams provide all the food, then, architects help them design the structures. Elementary students draw posters that are sponsored by local businesses.
On average, CANtastic raises $50,000 and 5,000 pounds of food each year. All monetary funds go to our vital
Backpacks4Kids
program.
