The community of Bozeman continues to benefit from HRDC Kids Summer Lunch Program

Bozeman, Montana – One of the many venues where the Kids Summer Lunch Program of HRDC assists in providing free meals to children in our community is the Bozeman Public Library.

Joy Davis, a local of Bozeman, says she adores bringing her kids to the library so they can take advantage of the HRDC’s free lunch program.

“We love it,” Davis said. “It’s just kind of a nice thing to do. In the summer we come to the library and we get books and we play with the animals that are here, and we eat lunch on the lawn.”

The initiative, according to Olivia Smart of HRDC, provides lunches to seven locations in Bozeman, including Storymill Park and Hyalite Elementary. Every day, they serve about 600 meals.

“It is a super rewarding program,” Smart said. “I helped out with the summer lunch program during my undergrad at MSU as well, and so I’m familiar with the program, but this is my first-year sort of being in charge of it.”

According to Smart, the numbers are still rising as global food demand rises.

“During the month of June, we serve upwards of 11,000 meals, which is a huge increase from last year. Last year, we did not top 10,000 meals or so,” Smart said.

The program serves “something like peanut noodles with tofu and edamame is on our menu” in an effort to differentiate the food from typical school lunches. Pesto pasta will be served tomorrow,” stated Smart.

According to Davis, the community benefits greatly from the lunch program.

“It’s so nice to know that, like, there’s a place to come and all kids can eat, and they do a really good job putting together lunch that, has a little bit, you know, you never know what kids are going to eat,” Davis said.