Generous Missoulians Package 90,000 Meals for Local School Kids
I just finished two more episodes of the Netflix series "Maid" and then I read about the incredible generosity of my community and my school, and I am four seconds from ugly crying, ohmygoodness.
What are EmPower Packs?
Are you familiar with the EmPower Pack program at the Missoula Food Bank? It's a bag of food that is discreetly put into the backpacks of students who the teachers and staff feel could use them. The kids are identified as those who may be dealing with food insecurity at home, kids who save some of their school lunch on Friday so they have something to eat over the weekend, kids who return to school Monday morning hungry and not really ready to learn. Hunger in kids can lead to disruptive behavior and difficulty learning. During the 2019-2020 school year, nearly 44,000 EmPower Packs were supplied to children enrolled in the schools you can see listed at the bottom of this article.
Who will package 90,000 meals, and how?
To celebrate their 90th year in Missoula, United Way will gather more than 200 volunteers for four hours at the U of M Ballroom to package 90,000 EmPower Packs. "University United Food Friday" is an annual event at the University of Montana, with the food paid for by generous local businesses. The Outreach Program will make everything as safe as possible by implementing all applicable COVID-19 protocols, and Republic Services will assist with recycling at the event. So the details have been very well managed for this amazing event!
If you'd like to make a donation for future EmPower Packs, you can do so online.
If you feel your family could benefit from this program, you are encouraged to reach out to your school Family Resource Center (FRC) or FIT Coordinator.
Participating schools:
Alberton School
Big Sky High School
Bonner Elementary
Bonner Head Start
Chief Charlo Elementary
Clinton School
CS Porter Middle School
Franklin Elementary
Frenchtown School District
Hawthorne Elementary
Head Start Bethel
Head Start South Ave
Hellgate Elementary
Hellgate High School
Jeannette Rankin Elementary
Jefferson Early Learning Center
Lewis & Clark Elementary
Lolo School
Lowell Elementary
Meadow Hill Middle School
Paxson Elementary
Rattlesnake Elementary
Russell Elementary
Sentinel High School
Target Range School
Washington Middle School
Whittier Head Start
Willard Alternative High School
Woodman School