HELENA – Helena Public Schools starts class on Wednesday, August 29, and Helena Food Share is asking the community to help support their Kid Pack program this school year.
Kid Packs are special distributions through Food Share that provide a source of weekend nutrition for students at risk of hunger.
“Helena Food Share uses them to target a real need in our community, kids that are going hungry,” said Executive Director Bruce Day.
The program began in 2009 to help struggling families and was initially only at one elementary school in Helena.
Since then, the program has grown to serve over 1,000 students a week and is present at every elementary school and Head Start program in Helena and East Helena.
Food Share staff said it is essential that children have some sort of nutrition over the weekend so they can function better at school.
“It’s especially tough on weekends since kids don’t have access to school lunch,” said Day.
Each Kid Pack costs around $3.25 and the annual cost of the program is more than $120,000.
According to Food Share, the Kid Pack program is just one way Food Share is committed to helping eliminate hunger year-round.
“People are hungry all year long and while we think about it, more maybe during the holidays, it’s just as important going back to school as it is during the holiday period,” said Day.
In 2017, Helena Food Share distributed over 39,000 Kid Packs to children in the greater Lewis and Clark area.
Food Share will hold a Kid Pack food drive on Saturday, September 8, at Van’s Thriftway on Euclid Avenue.
For more information about Helena Food Share programs, visit here.
