Schools around the valley participated in events to fight childhood hunger with two notable standouts in Kalispell and Bigfork.

Kalispell Middle School sixth-grader Eva Bruce was the first-place winner of the Montana No Kid Hungry “Fight Childhood Hunger” essay contest. She won a $200 Amazon gift card and $1,000 for her school. Her essay was among 75 entries statewide that teachers selected from among their students.

Fight Childhood Hunger Week, a Global Youth Service Day Project, was observed April 13-19.

Besides outlining how detrimental hunger and poor nutrition are to physical and mental development with facts, Bruce packed passion into her essay from the start:

“At Elrod Elementary School, a first-grade boy is hungry every day. In a class activity where the students listed three wishes, they would ask for if they caught a leprechaun, his first wish was for food. This is a problem all over America, a country with untold wealth, power, and influence. Yet we do little for hunger victims. Every day, children go hungry. This needs to change.”

Sixth- through eighth-graders were asked to submit essays of 400 to 600 words under the topics “Why is it so important to end childhood hunger in America?” or “What could you, your friends/family, or your school do to help end childhood hunger in your community?”

The contest is sponsored by Montana No Kid Hungry, the Governor’s Office, Office of Public Instruction and Montana Food Bank Network.

Bruce’s essay may be read in its entirety at mt.nokidhungry.org/essay-contest.

“She is an amazing young lady and so deserving of this honor,” said Bruce’s teacher, Ann Castren, who nominated the winning essay.

Bigfork Elementary and Middle School took a schoolwide food drive to the next level when donations from students and staff came in at approximately 900 pounds and was donated to the Bigfork Food Bank.

Students didn’t end their participation there.

Leadership teacher Schuyler Baird pitted her seventh- and eighth-grade students against one another to see who could collect the most canned food items. The seventh-grade leadership class won, bringing in 312 canned food items for the food bank.

The seventh-graders then made wraps with homemade hummus and local cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and sprouts through a cooking lesson by FoodCorps Service Member Whitney Pratt and then donated the food to Flathead High School’s Heart Market food pantry program. The high school food pantry program serves about 40 students a week, which students learned during a tour of the market.

During the week, Bigfork students and staff also wore orange to raise awareness about childhood hunger, which affects one out of five children in Montana.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.