With federal food assistance facing a potential pause starting Saturday, Town Pump has renewed its annual fall distribution of grants across Montana to combat hunger, including to several Jefferson County organizations.
As part of its Meals for Backpacks initiative, early this month the convenience store and gas station chain awarded $3000 to Jefferson High’s Family Career and Community Leaders of America. FCCLA Chapter Leader Cassidy Parsons said the funds would be used to expand the group’s personal hygiene and food pantries. Two JHS sophomores are overseeing the project.
And now in its 24th year, Town Pump’s annual Help Those in Need campaign vows to match the donations received by more than 120 community organizations across the state through Nov. 30, giving a total of $1.2 million.
Boulder-based JeffCo Food Share will receive up to $7,500 this year, up from $5,000 in previous years and the same amount as the Whitehall Food Pantry. For the JeffCo Food Share, the increase is likely to improve what has been a demanding year.
In 2024, the organization saw a 40% increase in participation, which meant local need was as high as it had ever been to start 2025. Then the incoming Trump administration started cutting assistance programs.
“In January, it became evident that some of the programs associated with the federal government were not going to be available,” said JeffCo Food Share President Priscilla Hedgecock, adding that the organization was forced to stop handing out eggs. “We had to make some cuts in food distribution.”
Fortunately, the food share received two grants in the spring: a Headwaters Foundation GO! grant and another from the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation. Those funds, plus last year’s matching funds from Town Pump, may have kept the organization afloat.
“We probably would’ve ended up closing our doors due to the increase in people we serve and increased inflation,” said Hedgecock.
Instead, the food share climbed back into the black. Yet it may soon face sharply increased need. Due to the ongoing shutdown, the federal government has warned that funding for its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will run out Nov. 1, ending food assistance for 42 million Americans, including more than 5% of Jefferson County residents.
“If the SNAP program shuts down, we will have the most mass hunger suffering we’ve had in America since the Great Depression,” Joel Berg, CEO of the advocacy group Hunger Free America, warned National Public Radio.
And there’s little relief at the supermarket. After inching up in September, inflation is now as high as it’s been this year. As of mid-October, Hedgecock estimated that the need for food in the area had increased 15% this year. Donations saw an uptick last year, but so far this year they have not kept up with the increased food share participation.
This explains why JeffCo Food Share hopes for a bit more giving this season. Hedgecock said the organization relies on individual donations and urged donors to contribute before the end of November to ensure their generosity would count toward the $7,500 match.
“We appreciate any donation, no matter the size,” she said, adding that the entire JeffCo Food Share staff is volunteer. “Nobody gets paid here, so it all goes directly to the people who are facing food insecurity and need assistance.”
Donations can be made at Town Pump or directly to the Jeffco Food Share, P.O. Box 244, Boulder, MT 59632, and the Whitehall Food Pantry, P.O. Box 266, Whitehall, MT.
