Middle school receives breakfast grant

Kalispell Middle School was awarded a $3,928 grant as part of the state’s Breakfast after the Bell initiative.

The grant was among $36,000 in privately funded grants awarded to nine schools around the state to implement new school breakfast programs or transition to models that increase participation, such as breakfast in the classroom or “grab-and-go.”

The grants, offered through Montana No Kid Hungry, are intended to help schools pay for essential equipment and infrastructure such as grab-and-go kiosks, carts for delivering meals to classrooms, or temporary staffing through the implementation phase. Programs are expected to be self-sustaining thereafter.

Meals served through the school breakfast program are federally funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, so the more kids participate in school breakfast, the more funding the school receives to operate the program.

On average, school breakfast participation rises to more than 70 percent when schools implement a Breakfast after the Bell model versus 30 percent with a traditional model that serves breakfast in the cafeteria before school starts according to a press release from the governor’s office.

The grants were made possible with support from Jeff Bridges, Share Our Strength, Round It Up Montana, Blue Cross Blue Shield, First Interstate Bank Foundation and Neptune Aviation.