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BRIGHAM CITY — About 400 families in need received a 25-pound box of food, a 15-pound box of hygiene products and several books for their children Tuesday thanks to a resource rally at the Northern Utah Boys and Girls Club.
More than 9% of Brigham City residents live below the poverty line with recent inflation impacting costs even further. As families struggle to cover the basic necessities, the gathering of community resources becomes vital.
"When I think about what we're doing here, it's not the government that helps people, it's the community and this is exactly what we're doing right now," said Rep. Thomas Peterson, R-Brigham City. "I just have to give a huge shout-out to our community for stepping up and filling the gap that is so needed right now. We have so many people that are struggling, trying to make ends meet. What this represents is indicative of Box Elder County."
Tuesday's event was a partnership between Niagara Care, the philanthropy of Niagara Bottling, Feed the Children and the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Utah.
"Our mission is that no child goes to bed hungry. We work with families and communities across the nation making sure that families have nutritious food resources and supplies to nourish and flourish," said Chet Jones of Feed the Children. "We've had a partnership with Niagara for 16 years and through that partnership, we've worked through tornadoes, hurricanes, anything that community needs — Niagara is always there."
Niagara Cares and Feed the Children's stop in Brigham City was the seventh of a 15-city tour of communities in need across the nation. So far, the partnership has helped around 3,000 families and approximately 12,000 children and adults. Other community partners such as Box Elder Family Support Center, Healthy Choice Utah, United Way of Northern Utah, Department of Workforce Services, and Department of Health and Human Services were present to help provide wrap-around services to families.
"Sometimes you live in a bubble and you don't know how much need there is in the community and unfortunately, sometimes as a mayor that happens to you because you sit there and you own your own business and so you see your bubble but you don't see what's going on outside of it. So I appreciate the folks of Boys and Girls Club and these the people on these tables for opening the eyes of a mayor to see the need in the community so that we can then turn around and give back and help," said Brigham City Mayor DJ Bott.
Families who attended the resource rally were given a survey to determine the needs of their family and how many boxes they would receive. The families were then partnered with volunteers who would help push a shopping cart of the items, connect them with other resources and help pick out some books for the children.
"A lot of times these kids never have the opportunity to actually own a book themselves, so sometimes it's the very first book that they own. As we all know, the way out of poverty is education," said Aaron Hazel of Feed the Children.
The sentiment was appreciated by Heidi Jo West, Box Elder School District assistant superintendent.
"Teachers are often the first ones to see the basic needs of students because students are in school every day and learning in that environment. It's often very evident to the teacher if some basic need is not being met, whether it's clothing, food, hygiene. If there's a concern of neglect or abuse, being able to work together with the local community programs allow us to partner resources with parents and students in order to meet those needs," West said.
