The house, donated by Raymond and Verda King, Busby that will be renovated for a food bank in Busby, Montana. Photo courtesy A Cheyenne Voice
Food bank coming to Busby on Northern Cheyenne Reservation
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Correspondent BUSBY, Mont –– By the end of each month, most of the 800 or so tribal residents in Busby wind up hungry, the small amount of monthly assistance they receive by then exhausted. Unemployment and related poverty averages 80 percent in that small rurally isolated reservation community, resulting in great hardship, especially for the most vulnerable. Relief from end-of-the-month hunger, however, is on the horizon. Under the leadership of Sheldon King, Busby Tribal Council member, a coalition of community groups and other organizations is developing a Food Bank to be located in Busby. “We hope to have it open by the Christmas holidays, always a hard financial time for many people when they are often short on food,” King recently explained, “But, it will certainly open by the first of 2016. This effort has required much teamwork and reflects the tradition of Cheyenne helping one another, as I learned from my grandparents and other influential elders.” Key recipients will be elders, King said. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe receives funding from the Federal and State governments to operate an Elderly Program, a main emphasis providing noon lunches during the week for area elders at the Shoulderblade Center in Lame Deer, the central reservation community. However, under a limited budget, satellite programs for the remote reservation districts, including Busby, are not provided. Many elders in those outlying areas often do not have transportation or means to participate in the noon meal program, a common source of complaint.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Food bank coming to Busby on Northern Cheyenne Reservation (Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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