FAIRFIELD — As summer months draw nearer, students facing food insecurity become more vulnerable. In Montana, 47% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. That same percentage of students qualify within Great Falls Public Schools.
OWEN SKORNIK-HAYES REPORTS - WATCH:
In Great Falls, the summer food service program provides over 15,000 meals to students at parks and schools across town. It’s a way to mitigate food insecurity problems.
But for smaller towns like Fairfield, the same services can be harder to come by.
“Sometimes parents don't want to admit that there might be some insecurity at home,” says Kyona Yeager.
Yeager is the current liaison between the food pantry at Fairfield Public School and Fairfield’s Food Pantry. She says that many families who utilize the school’s service don’t utilize the food pantry in town during the summer months while the school is closed.
“There gets to be some things that you're just like, wait a second,” says Yeager, noting the inconsistency.
Unfortunately, due to other responsibilities, Yeager must step down from her role as liaison, and a new one has yet to take her place. The liaison is required to not only shop for the school’s pantry and help facilitate help for kids, but identify which kids require the program through survey, and educate families of the opportunity the food pantry in town presents.
“We’re hoping that the families will start using the pantry in the summer so that we're not kind of missing the critical need of the kids because there is a need, in the school, right now,” says Chelsea Schilling, Board Member of the Fairfield Food Pantry.
Yeager says the success of the stop and shop program at the school has increased. She says she doles out 50 pounds of food to students per week. That’s 50 pounds sorely missed over the summer.
The operation has been so successful, she’s nearing the need for a second storage cabinet, and other schools are considering adopting the program. They are Power and Greenfield schools, respectively.
If you are interested in filling as new food pantry liaison, contact Megan Caffyn at (406) 590-3150.
