2020 has been a difficult year for many families in the Big Sandy area. Especially during the holidays, the Big Sandy Food Bank has encountered a much higher than normal level of need. For the third consecutive year, they'll be getting some extra help from FE Miley Elementary school in the form of Christmas dinner boxes. The Christmas Dinner Food Drive is organized by Samantha Burns Weaver, the Kindergarten teacher. "I started the food drive three years ago with the thought of doing a project where the school could give back to the community. I didn't want to do a random food drive where you just get random canned goods. I wanted to really put something together that was special." Inspiration for the Christmas dinner food boxes came from Samantha's experience teaching in Uln. "When I taught in Uln, the ABC Club, which was like the school's version of their PTA club, would do a Christmas dinner basket raffle where each class was responsible for bringing in items for a Christmas dinner. Then they would put these boxes together and raffle them off at the Christmas Concert. There was a ham and a turkey and all the things you'd need for a Christmas dinner. They would raffle them off, and the money would go towards helping the school pay for Missoula Children's Theater. So when I came to Big Sandy, I thought that was a really good idea. That would be a good project for the Food Bank. So we put together Christmas dinner boxes."

Samantha draws support for the food boxes from every grade at the elementary school, with each grade contributing a specific food item for the boxes. "We put out a letter where every class is responsible for bringing certain items. Then we gather those."

Finally, to put the extra Christmas touch, Samantha has her "...co-op student from the high school wrap the boxes in Christmas paper, to make it extra special. So each box is wrapped, and it's like a gift for a family from the Food Bank and the school with everything they need for Christmas dinner."

The contributions for the Christmas dinner boxes aren't just from the students. In years past, the teachers have contributed a non-perishable dessert item to each box to round out the meal. This year, the teacher's contribution will be a bit different: "Miss Terry had an idea where she asked the Grocery Store about pie coupons. The teachers go and purchase Marie Callender pies at the counter,. They run it through, and the store gives us a pie coupon. We put the pie coupon in the box. Then the family can go and redeem that at the store."

"The Food Bank provides the hams and the turkeys for the dinner, while the school kids handle the rest of the meal. It's a real opportunity to teach kids that Christmas is about more than getting gifts. Samantha explains: "In our class, I talk about how Christmas is a time of giving, not necessarily receiving. It's a time of giving back to our community. Instead of exchanging gifts in our class we give food to the Food Bank... I think it's important for kids to learn at an early age to give back to those who are less fortunate."

Both of the last two years have seen the school contribute 11 complete meal boxes. Any excess food that is needed to complete Christmas dinners are boxed up and donated to the Food Bank to meet other needs. Samantha explained that this year, as a result of the economic strain families are facing, many families are consolidating generations into single households, with grandparents taking care of kids and grandkids. This means that many families are in need of extra food to feed their household Christmas dinner. Some families will receive extras to meet the demand.

The Christmas dinner boxes from FE Miley School go to feed families in Big Sandy. In years past, extra boxes have helped other families in our county.