Help For the Holidays 

With 1 in 6 seniors facing food insecurity, our Program Partner Wes looks to the Breakfast-in-a-Bag service from Northern Plains Reservation Aid® (NPRA) for help. NPRA is a program of Partnership With Native Americans® (PWNA), and its Breakfast service, centralized at Allstop Grocery on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, gives Elders healthy food items to support their diet at no cost to them. 

Allstop Supervisor Steffanie S. proudly shared, “Breakfast-in-a-Bag is the only local program that gives Elders things like bread and fresh fruit, and they get to choose which kinds. I’m happy that we try to watch out for Elders’ health with the things they grew up eating. This food helps them.” 

Steffanie knows her community relies on Breakfast-in-a-Bag, especially during Thanksgiving when Elders face more financial strain. She told us, “They can count on it, that it’s going to keep happening. Some Elders go from meal to meal, so the extra food for Thanksgiving is a tremendous help. Everybody here has a big family and really looks forward to it.” 

One beneficiary is Rosebud Elder Maurice J., age 62. Working at the elderly nutrition center, Maurice knows that local Elders have limited income and access to food, so he was grateful to receive a Thanksgiving meal through Breakfast-in-a-Bag.  

Maurice said, “It feels good and comes in handy” to receive breakfast foods, especially with added Thanksgiving items like potatoes, stuffing, and a giant turkey. The normal Breakfast service includes more than $50 worth of food, and Maurice estimated that the turkey would have cost him $30. Add that to the other Thanksgiving items, and that’s a lot of money saved. It’s money that Maurice will use to buy more food for his family. He shared, “We don’t eat out. Everybody cooks at home, things like meat and soups. I’m excited about this Thanksgiving food.”  

During a typical month, Maurice spends $300 on groceries for a large household, including his 14-year-old grandson, and said, “It can be a challenge,” supporting everyone. Things get harder in the winter when the only way he can heat his home is with space heaters. “It’s expensive,” he noted. 

Maurice always looks forward to the holiday season because he gets to spend more time with family.  

He sends his thanks to all of you who make Breakfast-in-a-Bag possible. Donate to NPRA today to help more Native families like Maurice’s.