DOGE puts Montana nonprofits on the ropes

The consequences of indiscriminate federal cuts are hitting home in all the wrong places.  

At the top of the heap are the food pantries that serve as a vital safety net for local families struggling to make ends meet.   

Last month the Department of Agriculture’s long-running Emergency Food Assistance Program was axed at the behest of the Department of Government Efficiency. The funding helps funnel food donations to the Montana Food Bank Network, which in turn, doles out hundreds of thousands of pounds of goods to five food banks in Northwest Montana. The network also partners with schools and senior centers across the state.  

About 20% of the food moving through the North Valley Food Bank comes from the federal program, which amounts to about 230,000 pounds a year. North Valley doesn’t just support Whitefish and Columbia Falls. Its donations reach seniors and families as far away as Yaak, Eureka, Libby, Troy and the Blackfeet Reservation.  

It’s these rural pantries that will feel the pinch from the funding cut the most, as demand in these areas continues to increase, food bank directors warn.  

“For those pantries, it’s going to be much more devastating because with them, it’s honestly probably the majority of the food they hand out to their community,” said North Valley Food Bank Executive Director Sophie Albert.  

Without the federal support, those rural pantries will have to lean more than ever on local donations and philanthropy — which can be a major challenge in smaller population areas with limited financial resources.  

“If we’re going to help our most at risk and keep them healthy, that means we’re going to have to have a significant amount more money to be able to provide these items especially with the deficit of government,” Bigfork Food Bank Executive Director Jamie Quinn warned.  

IMPORTANT LIBRARY and museum programming also hit the federal funding chopping block this month as Humanities Montana had its National Endowment for the Humanities grant terminated.  

The entity receives 80% of its modest $1 million budget from the endowment, which in turn supports enrichment programs like Montana Conversations and Speakers in the Schools.   

Chris La Tray, a Little Shell Chippewa member and the 2023-24 Montana Poet Laurate, has traveled to libraries across the state as a part of the conversations program. Sharing stories of his heritage, La Tray facilitated a vital connection between the communities he visited — from Superior to Ekalaka — and Montana’s tribal roots.   

Montana history should be shared far and wide. Humanities Montana made it happen. 

 In Columbia Falls, the high school’s Democracy Project is funded in part by Humanities Montana. Through the program, teens develop a project to support and benefit their community. Last year, the student group took on cyber bullying, and this year they plan to address mental health and suicide prevention resources.  

Isn’t this exactly how we want our teens to engage with their communities? The Democracy Project is the epitome of investing in our nation’s future.  

Already underfunded, many of Montana’s nonprofits are being forced onto the ropes without the certainty of federal grants. While their efforts can sometimes go unnoticed or be taken for granted, there’s no doubt that these organizations are the backbone of our communities. Their positive impact on the state is certainly worthy of the grants that help keep them afloat.  

The federal government has plenty of fat to cut. But in this case, DOGE has gone after a bone with no meat to spare. 

Let your representatives know this is not the waste and fraud they’re after.