Food is life. But for 1 in 7 Helena residents — and 1 in 5 children — finding enough food to live on is a daily struggle.
Helena Food Share is a lifeline to these individuals experiencing food insecurity. Since 2001, the organization has seen an alarming 2,600% increase in demand for the food assistance services it provides.
“There isn’t a community in Helena that isn’t touched by food insecurity today,” said Bruce Day, executive director of Helena Food Share. “Faced with the current economic conditions, and considering we are still emerging from the pandemic, we are not only noticing an increase in the number of people in need, but a deepening of need from nearly all household income levels.”
Each year, the nonprofit provides more than 80,000 food assistance services, including groceries for more than 1,500 families a month, weekend nutrition for more than 1,200 school children weekly (through the Kid Pack program) and 450 emergency food packs monthly to other area nonprofits and organizations. In total, Helena Food Share distributes more than 6,000 pounds of healthy and nutritious food to its neighbors in need every single day.
“We’ve kept up with that growth,” Day said, “but our buildings have not and the space is now limiting our ability to serve the growing number of clients walking through our doors daily.”
To fill this need, the organization has so far brought in $7.5 million of its $10.3 million goal to construct a larger community food resource center, doubling the existing space that is currently spread among three smaller buildings.
Today, food is donated and processed at one spot, then transported to another for distribution, creating inefficiencies and unnecessary costs and, ultimately, limiting the number of people who can be served on any given day.
The new 20,000-square-foot facility, located east of Montana Avenue on Boulder Avenue, will allow the nonprofit to have all its programming and operations under one roof.
“Our intention is to be able to have a facility that is able to meet our food insecurity needs today and well into the future,” Day said.
According to Day, the new community food resource center will accommodate triple the shoppers at a time in a market-like atmosphere. The center also will offer three times more food storage space, dedicated space to prep and package food for distribution, community spaces for a garden, food demonstrations and classes. A new commercial kitchen will enable the organization to collect, prepare and distribute ready-to-eat food to more people in need.
Of the donations secured thus far, half have come through private gifts and grants. Helena Food Share is adding $1.1 million from reserves and proceeds from the sale of its current properties. The project also received $500,000 in ARPA grant funding through Lewis and Clark County, $750,000 through a Community Development Block Grant sponsored by the city of Helena and $1.4 million in new market tax credits. Day is hopeful that the remaining $2.8 million needed in funding will come from the community through one-time gifts and pledges.
“Every single dollar donated can help eradicate hunger here in Helena one meal at a time,” he said. “A hunger-free community is a win for all of us.”
For more information or to support Helena Food Share, visit helenafoodshare.org or call 406.443.3663.
