Montana Food Bank Network

Missoula, Montana

Evaluate the Montana Food Bank Network’s Mail-a-Meal program. This funding and partnership will help to assess whether participating in the Mail-a-Meal program results in long-term positive outcomes, such as improving the overall health of an individual, household or community that has a large number of participants.

Funded Program

Rooted in Evidence grantee, Montana Food Bank Network (MFBN), is using grant funds for their Mail-a-Meal program. Mail-a-Meal, unique to Montana and not offered in any other state, works to reach food-insecure Montanans through either direct home delivery or drop-site distribution of a 30-pound box of shelf-stable food once per month. Participation varies from month-to-month, but on average the program reaches 100 households per month. Approximately 25-30% of boxes are home-delivered, while the remaining are shipped to nine different drop-sites. Participants travel anywhere from zero to 30 miles to pick up their boxes.

Each box contains roughly five to seven days of meals for four people, as well as information about how to access other public nutrition programs. Contents might include chili with beans, beef ravioli, whole wheat spaghetti, elbow macaroni, canned tuna, peanut butter, baked beans, banana muffin mix, quick oats, pancake mix and syrup, honey, ketchup, applesauce, canned fruit, canned vegetables, rice, pasta sauce and canned soup. The items offered change quarterly.

To apply, recipients submit a short, one-page application each time they’d like to receive a box. The program is available, and being utilized, in 26 eligible counties in rural, remote, low-population areas without access to emergency food assistance or nutritious, quality food. The program is available to any age, but particularly focuses on reaching seniors. As part of the Mail-a-Meal program, seniors can receive low-sugar, low-sodium and whole grain options in order to meet their specific nutritional needs. 

Q&A with Montana Food Bank Network’s Chief Programs Officer Stephanie Stratton:

What about Mail-a-Meal Program excites you most? 

Providing access to nutritious food for people who face multiple barriers to meeting their household’s needs. This program allows people living in very rural areas without a traditional food pantry or other social service, to receive a food box every month. Empowering people to meet their household’s nutrition needs by providing a low-barrier, discreet program model is my favorite aspect of this program. Program participants can receive their monthly food box in one of two different distribution models. Those who live in a community where a MFBN drop-site has been established can pick up their food box from a centralized location like a senior center, community center or church. For people in areas without a drop-site or regular food pantry establish in their community, MFBN will directly ship a food box to their home via UPS.

What do you want to know most about the Mail-a-Meal Program and its impacts? 

I most want to know if participants see positive food security and health outcomes after participating in the Mail-a-Meal Program. I am also curious about their satisfaction with the box contents, delivery methods and overall program. From drop-site coordinators, I would like to know their satisfaction with the operational logistics of administering the program. I also want to get a better idea of exactly how participants receive their boxes. It varies widely from one site to another, but I suspect more boxes are getting home delivered than we are aware.

What will data collection entail over the next six months?

Over the next six months my team will be conducting both in-person and phone interviews with program participants and drop-site coordinators. With the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition’s assistance, we have developed an evaluation tool to collect the information needed for program improvement.

What was your biggest take away from the Omaha kick-off meeting?

I am new to program evaluation in such a meaningful, intentional way - so my biggest take away was the nuts and bolts of effective evaluation.

How has GSCN’s evaluation expertise and technical assistance benefited your organization so far?

The Gretchen Swanson Center’s expertise in evaluation has provided me with tools to develop program evaluations for the other five programs operated by Montana Food Bank Network. The education and training I received during the Omaha kick-off meeting will carry over into all of our programs, allowing MFBN to better target and serve communities and individuals across all of our services.

What are you hoping to do with the results of the evaluation? What is the next step?

With the results of the evaluation, I hope to continue improving the Mail-a-Meal program based on our findings. For example, if we find that logistics at drop-sites are a mess, we have an opportunity for improvement. The next step will be to share our findings with larger funding groups (state and national) so that we can expand the program. I believe that if we had more consistent funding and were confident in sustainability, this program could easily double in participation with measured outreach.

About Montana Food Bank Network

Montana Food Bank Network (MFBN) is Montana’s only statewide food bank. They work with Feeding America, and distribute food across the state, where 30 of 56 counties are considered food deserts by USDA standards. MFBN has several programs including BackPack program, School Pantry, Mail-a-Meal, Hunters Against Hunger, Grocery Rescue and SNAP Application Assistance. MFNB helps meet around 5% of the total food needs of some larger, urban partners while meeting almost 100% of the need in rural areas.

Mission: End hunger in Montana through food acquisition and distribution, education and advocacy.