NEWS

Great Falls food bank secures $18,000 backpack grant

Tribune Staff

The Great Falls Community Food Bank is receiving some help for its backpack program — $18,000 worth of assistance.

On Tuesday, Food Bank Director Dave Abbott announced that the nonprofit has been awarded an $18,000 grant from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation to offset some of the cost for the backpack program, which provides food to elementary kids on the weekends and holidays.

"The Washington Foundation has fed a lot of people in Great Falls over the years, and we are extremely grateful," Abbott said. "Our Backpack program is one of our most important projects and we couldn't continue it without the help of generous people like Dennis and Phyllis Washington."

Washington Foundation Executive Director Mike Halligan said the Great Falls Food Bank is a perfect fit for the foundation's goals.

"We've been a proud partner of the Great Falls Community Food Bank since 2008," Halligan said. "We're focused on programmatic support to nonprofit organizations that assist at-risk youth and economically and socially disadvantaged individuals and those with special needs."