Missoula Hunger Summit groups gather to coordinate their efforts

About 35 Missoula nonprofit agencies work on hunger in Missoula in one way or another. Most have an inkling they could work together better and talk to each other more clearly, but the crush of daily work overtakes everybody.

By GINNY MERRIAM of the Missoulian

Next week for a day and a half, just about everybody who works in hunger relief in Missoula will sit down together to talk and plan. The result of the Missoula Hunger Summit will be a permanent Missoula County Hunger Council that addresses the issues of hunger for the long term.

It’s not a retreat, said Susan Cramer, a Missoula consultant who’s coordinating the conference: It’s an advance.

"There’s a lot of nonprofits out there that are generously supported by government grants and the general public," Cramer said in an interview. "It’s in everyone’s best interest that they’re functioning as effectively as possible, especially in this time of rising hunger and increased competition for diminished resources."

Participants will discuss coordinating food distribution, transportation barriers for clients, collecting data and the underlying causes of hunger.

"Hunger and poverty go together," Cramer said. "But everybody is poor and hungry for a different reason."

A second Hunger Summit will be held in January to complete the work.

Participants are ready to work, said Cynthia Lotty, director of the Missoula Food Bank.

"We don’t want this to be one of those conferences where you chit chat with people," Lotty said. "We want real results that will make a difference."

The summit, which is not open to the public, will be funded by a grant from the Montana Faith-Health Demonstration Project and Altria Corp. The $93,000 Altria grant is also going to the Missoula Food Bank, Missoula Aging Services and the Poverello Center to develop a coalition to improve nutrition for seniors. It will enable Meals on Wheels to expand to Potomac, provide money for transportation of food and help development of a Web site for sharing of food among agencies.

The Missoula Food Bank served 2,938 people in August. Thirty-eight percent were children, and 17 percent were seniors. The Poverello Center shelter and kitchen served about 400 meals a day during the summer.

For the period from 1999 through 2001, the U.S. Census Bureau defined 13.2 percent of Montana families as "food insecure." The term is used to describe lack of financial resources to fully meet the basic needs for food at all times.

"There is a feeling that hunger is a solvable issue," Cramer said. "With a little time and effort, we can develop a solution."

Reporter Ginny Merriam can be reached at 523-5251 or at [email protected].

http://missoulian.com/articles/2003/10/12/news/local/znews05.txt