Montana Food Bank Network

Bozeman Daily Chronical, 6/27/08
By JESSICA MAYRER Chronicle Staff Writer

The parking lot at the Gallatin County Food Bank was full Thursday. Inside, children darted through the aisles, reaching for boxes of cereal and pasta.

Three of those children belonged to Amy Howell and her husband, John. John works as a delivery driver, and Amy takes care of the kids.

They come to the food bank when his paycheck runs out.

“We’d be screwed if we didn’t have this,” John said. “We can have electricity in the house and we can eat.”

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.

By KATIE ZEZIMA
Published: December 10, 2008

MADISON, Wis. - Vanessa Rosales comes to the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry here rather than others for one reason: She can choose what food she brings home, rather than being handed a bag filled with random groceries.

The pantry, which looks like a small grocery store, is indicative of broad changes going on at the nation's food banks and food pantries.

Missoulian, November 19, 2007
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON of the Missoulian State Bureau
HELENA - Annita Wolf Black, a working and divorced mother in Billings with three children at home, depends on the food stamp assistance she receives to help feed her family.

In Missoula, Jillian Buchanan also counts on her monthly food stamp allowance. She'll also use the Food Bank when necessary to help feed her two young children and husband, who can't work because of an on-the-job accident framing houses.

By PEGGY GRIMES Missoulian Guest Column for Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007
More than 240 families showed up to receive food for their household members recently during a special food distribution by the Montana Food Bank Network and City Food Bank. The distribution was part of a special program initiated by the Montana Food Bank Network to demonstrate that more people are in need of food on a more consistent basis and that local pantries struggle to meet the increased need.

By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian
The Montana Food Bank Network soon will have more room for food.

At its headquarters on Expressway in Missoula, the nonprofit - which helps feed hungry people statewide - kicked off a $1.4 million expansion Saturday that will more than double the size of its office and warehouse.

The network needs the extra space because right now, it has to turn down donations of food for lack of room, said development director Mark Brennan. And saying no to food goes against the organization's mission.

"(It) drives us crazy," Brennan said.