Town Pump awards $725,000 for ‘Meals for Backpacks’

The Town Pump Charitable Foundation has awarded 91 grants totaling $725,000 for organizations around the state to fund its 2024 “Meals for Backpacks” program, which supports schools, food banks and service organizations that provide weekend meal programs for Montana school children.

Locally, the Libby Food Pantry and Morrison Backpacks in Troy received grants to provide the weekend meals.

“The Town Pump Charitable Foundation is committed to providing nourishing food for Montana children,” said Bill McGladdery, director of corporate communications for Town Pump. “Too often children in Montana go hungry over the weekend. The Meals for Backpacks program provides them healthy meals when they are away from school, so they show up on Monday morning healthy and ready to learn.”

Most weekend backpacks include two breakfasts, two lunches and a snack that replaces the meals children would receive at school.

Though the Foundation’s goal this year was to provide $650,000 in grants, McGladdery said the request for assistance exceeded that amount, so the Foundation increased its funding to match the need. 

Grants ranged from $2,500 to $10,000 and were awarded to large and small communities, including many rural communities across the state.

Research shows that healthy, well-nourished children learn better, are more likely to attend school and take advantage of educational opportunities, McGladdery said. 

Benefits of a backpacks program include increased test scores, improved attendance, reduced behavioral issues, greater attention span, and quality teaching time for all students, he added.

The Town Pump Charitable Foundation has funded Meals for Backpacks since 2016 with grants now totaling $4.3 million. Last year, the Foundation provided more than $550,000 for the program.