Imagine for a moment the anxiety (or sheer terror) of living in a cheap motel room with your two school-age children wondering where your next meal is coming from—wondering if your children will be able to eat tomorrow. You just started a job that pays a little more than minimum wage (currently $9.20 in Montana) and are waiting for your first paycheck.

Unpleasant isn’t it?

For one Great Falls woman, it’s reality. Sheila (not her real name) and her children escaped an abusive relationship and with help from local charities are getting by. Barely. They receives a box of food once a week from one of the Food Bank’s partner agencies, Helping Hands at First English Lutheran Church. With some luck and a little help from the charities and the caring people who donate to these charities, Sheila very well may be able to dig herself out of this hole.

Now imagine being a 10-year old who relies on school breakfasts and lunches to survive because there is little-to-no food at home. You find yourself in trouble at school on Friday afternoons and Monday because your fear and frustration over the coming days of no food cause you to act out.

Obviously, Fridays wouldn’t necessarily be your favorite day of the week.

But for Great Falls underprivileged public school children in grades K-6 who are identified as hungry by their teachers, relief comes in the form of a pack of food through the Food Bank’s Backpacks4Kids program. By staying in school, being able to learn on a full stomach, and working hard, these children may be able to break the cycle of poverty.

At the Great Falls Community Food Bank, we provide more than food, we provide hope and a brighter future to those who are facing stark, bleak situations. We know that many people, like Sheila or the hungry 10-year old, simply need a little hope to improve their lives and build a better future for themselves and their families.

Food is something most of us take for granted as we journey through life. We face our problems on a full stomach, never knowing what it’s like have hunger as our number one concern. By alleviating this problem for those who do have these worries, we allow them to concentrate and tackle life’s other problems—housing, employment, stability, health needs. We believe in the power of the human spirit because we have seen it. We often have successful people come to donate, telling us they too once received a helping hand from a food bank or pantry and that hand helped them get to a better place. In other words, they received some hope from a food pantry or food bank.

Now, imagine a county where there is no hunger. Cascade County. With your help we can make it happen.