SLE students reach out, offer hand up

SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake Elementary seventh and eighth graders are reaching out to help students on the Blackfeet Reservation. Thanks to the students' efforts, SLE junior high science and math teacher Patti Bartlett Gladstone will be bringing 400 pounds of pinto and black beans to Browning to support the growing need due to the 33-day government furlough.

Last November the eighth graders brought items to school for a bake sale. The seventh graders followed with another bake sale in December. Their efforts raised around $220 to help fight hunger on the reservation.

Bartlett Gladstone learned about Essential Eats Distributors in Missoula this past December after trying to donate Stove Top Stuffing to go with the 125 turkeys they were distributing.

Essential Eats Distributors is an all-volunteer based non-profit dedicated to serving hard-to-reach populations facing food insecurity including the Blackfeet Reservation.

"They are not meant to be a Food Bank or every day thing. They distribute local produce and meats that are healthy and high in protein," said Bartlett Gladstone who appreciates their philosophy of providing healthy, protein-rich foods.

Since pre-teens need 46 grams of protein per day and one cup of beans provides around 40 grams of protein, purchasing pinto and black beans for the schools on the reservation was "a pretty big bang for the buck."

The SLE junior high students calculated that they could purchase 400 pounds of pinto and black beans at $0.50 per pound and zip lock bags with the money they raised from bake sales.

"That is not something I would have bought because beans are not much fun. But if you think about the grams of protein per dollar you are way ahead with that," said Bartlett Gladstone.

The students have been weighing, measuring and repackaging the 50-pound bags of beans. Not only does this fit within the math and science curriculum, Bartlett Gladstone uses the opportunity to educate the students about life on the reservation.

Bartlett Gladstone said the average lifespan of a man on the reservation is that of a third world country. People outside the reservation don't understand the challenges and there is a misconception that they receive a monthly check from the government so they don't have to work.

If someone lives in Babb, the nearest Food Bank is in Browning, a 40 mile drive.

"And you better hope it is not in the winter where it might blow the roads closed and then you wouldn't get home," said Bartlett Gladstone. "That happens. They just don't have those services."

"There is a lot of misinformation," continued Bartlett Gladstone. "We talk about that a little bit and I think it is good for the students to know those things."

Bartlett Gladstone also hopes the project teaches empathy.

"I think it is a good thing for kids to do. We have it so much better than so many people and we don't appreciate that," said Bartlett Gladstone.

When Bartlett Gladstone first started the conversation with The Buffalo Hide Academy, an alternative high school in Browning, and Essential Eats, there were 125 needing assistance. That grew to more than 200 following the government furlough.

"That 33 days of government shutdown made a tremendous impact," said Bartlett Gladstone who shared a story of a mother and nurse who worked at a hospital in Browning that went 33 days without a paycheck since she is paid through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "I just didn't think about how the furlough affected people."

Bartlett Gladstone will be delivering the beans to The Buffalo Hide Academy in Browning in the next couple of week. They will distribute the food to schoolchildren in the surrounding communities including Heart Butte, Starr School, Babb, East Glacier and Blackfoot.