Grant changes after school meals in Hot Springs

HOT SPRINGS- Hot Springs schools are able to expand their after school snack program with the help of a grant from money provided from the state’s Child and Adult Care Food Program.

“Right now we offer a snack after school,” said Superintendent Kevin Meredith. “Now we can offer a super snack.”

The “super snack” will include all five components of the federal lunch program. Currently, the after school snack only includes two of the five components.

The $3,000 grant will be used by the school for additional equipment for preparation of the meals, as well as the additional initial staffing cost for producing the meals for the students.

“The hope is that the program becomes self-sufficient,” Meredith said. “We receive a small amount for each meal served through the program.”

The school will receive $2.93 for each meal served to students as part of the program. The money will be used to provide additional meals for students and to increase participation in the program.

The grant was made available to Hot Springs because over 50 percent of the students are part of the federal free and reduced lunch program. According to the No Kid Hungry program, the organization the state of Montana has partnered with for the program, 21.8 percent of all children in Montana are faced with childhood food insecurity in their 2010 report.

The program defines childhood food insecurity as children less than 18 years of age living in households that experience uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods at some point during the year. Montana ranks 31 out of the 50 states in childhood hunger according to the same No Kid Hungry report.

The program is designed to ensure quality food for students on the lower economic scale but all students at Hot Springs are able to take part in the after school meal program.

Meredith hopes that it will increase the number of students at the high school level to get involved with the program. He thinks that the meals might be a way to get the job done.

“A majority of students in the after school program are elementary kids,” said Meredith. “We are hoping to get the high school more involved.”

A large portion of the Hot Springs student body is already involved in after school athletic programs and Meredith hopes that by offering a meal, more students will take advantage of it.

“We have a lot of students involved in athletics here,” said Meredith, “This gives them the chance to be able to get a meal without having to run home before practice. Sometimes you live so far away, there is no time to get something to eat.”

The program strives to give all students a chance for a meal and to increase healthier food choices by insuring food education for students. The state began their partnership with No Kid Hungry in 2012 in conjunction with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services creating a comprehensive program to reduce childhood hunger across the state.