After a one-year pause, the Bozeman Public Library is once again offering free summer lunches for kids.
Hope Christensen, a Bozeman mom who brings her 16-month-old daughter to the library’s Books and Babies program twice a week. She was surprised to learn the summer lunch program had disappeared last year.
WATCH: Kids Can Now Enjoy Free Summer Lunches at the Bozeman Library Again
“That was actually news to me,” Christensen said. “But I think if you were going to take it away anywhere, it’s a little bit of a surprise to me that it would be at the library.”
The program, run in partnership with HRDC, had been a reliable resource for years. But in 2023, the library was no longer eligible to host the program due to rising income levels in surrounding neighborhoods.
“Unfortunately, last year we found out that we would not be able to have free lunch served here due to the income level in the surrounding neighborhoods rising so much,” said Sonja Bahr, Director of Development for the Bozeman Library Foundation.
Bahr says the loss was felt across the city.
“City-wide, 40 percent fewer lunches were served. And so that basically tells us people come to the library for one free lunch — but also all of the educational components that their kids can get this summer,” she said.
Christensen remembers the program from her own childhood.
“The lunch program was definitely something that my mom used to kind of get us out of the house and have us at the park,” she said. “It was definitely helpful to them when school was out of session,especially being able to have that assistance with a food budget,” Christensen says.
This year, the community rallied together to make a difference. Thanks to generous support led by a major gift from Intercity Radiology, Bozeman Health, Yellowstone Orthodontics, and numerous individual donors also contributed, helping the Bozeman Library Friends and Foundation reach their fundraising goal ahead of summer.
“This is really a community-funded effort to be able to feed the kids this summer at the library,” Bahr said.
She emphasized that the library remains a welcoming place for everyone.
“That’s really one of the beautiful things about the library we are here to serve everyone regardless of your background or situations.”
The free summer lunch program is designed to ensure local children have access to healthy meals while school is out of session.
Lunch sites open starting June 16.
More information: https://gallatinvalleyfoodbank.org/get-help/summer-meals/
