Missoulian, Posted on Dec. 12

HELENA - The Montana Food Bank Network will receive a check for $250,000 to help stock the shelves of food banks across Montana this holiday season.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer and the Department of Public Health and Human Services made the announcement today.

The funding source comes from U.S. Department of Agriculture bonus awards the DPHHS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has received over the past several years for the state’s accuracy and timeliness in processing SNAP applications.
While the Montana Food Bank Network will facilitate the distribution of food, all state food banks are eligible to receive help even if they are not a member of the MFBN.

The Montana SNAP received a $238,990 bonus award in October from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and in 2006 the state received a a $1.8 million bonus award. SNAP is the new name for the Food Stamp Program. The program’s name changed on Oct. 1.

Not all of the bonus award money the state has received over the past couple years has been allocated and the decision was made to assist the MFBN based on current data.

According to MFBN executive director Peggy Grimes, network members are reporting a 20 percent increase in the number of new households needing food this year over last year and a 26 percent increase in the number of food boxes provided.

Grimes said the funding is enough to purchase about 360,000 pounds of food that will be distributed to food banks over approximately the next six months.

The MFBN is a private nonprofit organization that solicits, gleans, sorts, repackages, warehouses and transports donated food and distributes it to charitable programs that directly serve needy families, children and seniors.

Food banks interested in receiving some of this food are encouraged to call Grimes at 1-406-721-3825 or 1-800-809-4752.