Summer Lunch is here!

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 GVFB NEWS

 LOCAL SUPPORT FOR LOCAL FAMILIES 

June 2024

Free meals for kids and teens starting today!

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Note from Jill
  • Recap: April/May
  • Summer Lunch
  • Ways to Help
  • People of GVFB
  • The Mighty Spork
  • Upcoming Events
 

Note from Jill

Dear Friend, 

As you will see in this newsletter, we have been busy with food drives and reaching out to our community. A committed staff and volunteers allow us to meet the need every day!  

June is a great moment to pause and celebrate our hardworking staff and volunteers. I would like to highlight the transition from Healthy KidsPack distribution to Summer Lunch. From October through May, we delivered over 22,000 KidsPacks to make sure school-aged children had food over the weekend. This is almost double the numbers that we served just a few years ago! A one-week gap between KidsPack and Summer Lunch and our crew is gearing up to serve over 400 lunches a day at six different locations. This will take the help of about 90 volunteers to get the job done!

Thank you to Olivia Smart, our dietitian and childhood nutrition program coordinator, and her whole crew! Nice work making sure kids don’t go to bed hungry and have nutritious food to help them grow and learn! It is so important!!!!

Gratefully,
Jill Holder, HRDC Food & Nutrition Director

 

Recap: April and May

Two young girls at the Carve Out Hunger food drive. They are standing in front of the GVFB box truck which has a banner across the front showing our logo. They are at Bridger Bowl Ski Area outside of the Saddle Peak Lodge.
Four large cardboard watermelon boxes full of canned food donations sitting inside the GVFB box truck
Five volunteers standing outside Smith's grocery store for the Spring for Food food drive. In front of them there is a cardboard watermelon box with a Spring for Food banner, as well as crates for food and a grocery cart with a Spring for Food poster. One of the volunteers happens to be Glenn Close
The food bank warehouse featuring many cardboard watermelon boxes full of donations from Spring for Food along with back stock food in the warehouse pallet racking
Two volunteers smiling and holding up fresh produce we received from Spring for Food donors. They are surrounded by cardboard watermelon boxes that contain different kinds of produce
Three GVFB staff members standing around our building's mailboxes. They are holding food donations and paper bags full of food to promote the Stamp Out Hunger food drive

We had another successful spring food & fund drive season! Thank you to everyone who helped us collect: 

  • 4,000 pounds of food at Carve Out Hunger
  • 10,980 pounds during Spring for Food
  • 3,364 pounds during Stamp Out Hunger

This includes generous donors, local grocery stores, volunteers, post office workers, Bridger Bowl, and everyone who helped us spread the word about our food drives.

Four First Security Bank employees and two food bank employees holding a large check and smiling. The check shows the First Security Bank logo, a Member Impact Fund logo, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Des Moines logo. The text reads Pay to the order of: Gallatin Valley Food Bank $20,000 For Community Development. It is signed by a bank executive. They are posed in front of a mountain landscape backdrop with text above it that reads Success. Together.
Cereal Knockdown Challenge at Ridge View Elementary School. There are many students and faculty in the school's gym sitting on the edges of the room. In the middle, hundreds of cereal boxes are arranged standing vertically in a spiral pattern
Cereal from the Ridge View Elementary Knockdown Challenge. The cereal boxes are arranged in a spiral and have been knocked down like dominoes

First Security Bank gifted us with an incredibly generous $20,000 donation to support our food assistance services!

We also had help from three Belgrade elementary schools—Ridge View, Saddle Peak, and Story Creek—whose Cereal Knockdown Challenge provided us with 1,625 boxes of cereal donations!

We are so thankful for our amazing community!

 

Summer Lunch begins TODAY!

A graphic for Summer Lunch. School's Out! Free Meals Are In! Join Us! Lunch is served Monday to Friday, rain or shine, from 12:00-1:00 pm at Hyalite Elementary, Walton Homestead Park, Story Mill Park, Irving Elementary, MSU Family and Grad Housing and 1:00 to 4:00 pm at GVFB. For more information, call 4065874486 or text "food" or "comida" to 304304 for a site near you. For the most up-to-date information visit gallatinvalleyfoodbank.org

The Kids Summer Lunch program is open to ALL kids and teens 18 and under. FREE, healthy meals are available at sites across the Gallatin Valley. Check out the Summer Lunch page on our website for more information!

 
Summer Lunch Details
 

Do you want to help us make Summer Lunch possible? Consider volunteering! Visit the link below and sign up for a short training!

 
Volunteer at Summer Lunch
 

Ways to Help

Four crates full of senior groceries. Visible items include boxed cereal, shelf-stable milk, dried pasta, canned meat, canned vegetables, and nut butter.

Our Senior Groceries program needs more drivers!

Volunteer for Senior Groceries
 
A large plastic bin full of fresh garden greens, such as lettuce and herbs

Do you have your own garden? Consider growing a row of produce for the food bank!

Grow a Row
The GVFB food bank store

Join our volunteer team!
 

Volunteer at GVFB
 
Two GVFB donation bins full of food donations. The bins say Donation Bin followed by the GVFB logo. The text at the bottom of the bins says Thank You.

Did you know you can host your own food drive with your club, church, company, or organization?

Host a Food Drive
 

People of GVFB

Our volunteer coordinator, Jess

Jess Heagler - Volunteer Coordinator

Jess oversees the amazing volunteers who make our services possible! The heart, creativity, and hard work she brings to work every day make a huge difference at the food bank and in our community. She builds invaluable momentum and enthusiasm around improving food security in the Gallatin Valley and she makes our days brighter with her quick wit, sense of humor, and genuine kindness. We are so very fortunate to have her. Thank you for everything you do, Jess!

 

HRDC Highlight

The Gallatin Valley Food Bank is a program run by HRDC. HRDC is a nonprofit Community Action Agency serving Southwest Montana. HRDC has over forty programs across various service areas, including the Mighty Spork.

The Mighty Spork food truck!
The Fork & Spoon logo
Text that reads Good Food Does Good
The Mighty Spork logo

The Mighty Spork

The Mighty Spork food truck is the mobile version of the Fork & Spoon, Montana's first and only pay-what-you-can restaurant. Using the pay-what-you-can model, the Mighty Spork is able to provide meals at low or no cost to families and individuals who are in need of food resources, while simultaneously allowing community members who have the means to easily support our efforts.

The Mighty Spork will be on the go starting this week! Schedule and menu updates will be posted on the Fork & Spoon's website and social media. Check out the link below!

About the Mighty Spork
 

Hey, Belgrade!

Starting this week, you can find the Mighty Spork at Peace Lutheran Church every Wednesday!*

GVFB will also be at Peace Lutheran two Mondays a month for our pop-up pantry (aka Belgrade Mobile Distribution).*

 
 
A digital sticker of the Mighty Spork food truck

*Visit the Mighty Spork webpage and GVFB calendar for any schedule changes

 

Upcoming Events

A graphic of boxes full of produce with the food bank's logo on the boxes

June: Happy Pride Month!! 🏳️‍🌈

June 10: Summer Lunch begins!

June 13: Operation Conquer Hunger with MTNTOUGH and MTN OPS

June 14: GVFB is closed for a staff meeting

June 19: GVFB is closed for Juneteenth

June 26: Our first Walk with a ______? event (stay tuned for details)

June 27: Conquer Hunger with Murdochs and MTN OPS

July 4: GVFB is closed for Independence Day

Belgrade Mobile Distribution: June 10, June 24, July 8, July 22

 

GVFB Wish List

  • Fresh produce
  • Masa harina
  • Granola bars
  • Diced green chiles
  • Shelf-stable milk
  • Microwavable meals (ramen, easy mac, etc.)
  • Pasta
  • Peanut butter, 16oz
  • Cereal
  • Rice
  • Pantry staples like flour, sugar, oil, and spices
  • Diapers, size 3 and up
  • Baby wipes
  • Baby formula
  • Toilet paper
  • Laundry detergent
 

Donation Hours:
Monday-Thursday 9 am-4 pm
Friday 9 am-12 pm

Check out our website for more information.

A few bags of pasta and beans on a counter. A person's torso and hand are visible in the image and their hand is reaching toward a bag of beans.

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Gallatin Valley Food Bank News

This newsletter was sent by the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, a program run by HRDC.

HRDC is a nonprofit Community Action Agency serving Southwest Montana.

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