GVFB NEWS

 LOCAL SUPPORT FOR LOCAL FAMILIES 

April 2023

Note from Jill

Dear Friend, 

April showers (snow) bring May flowers (more snow?)! As Montana spring takes us on a weather roller coaster, we’re grateful for our dedicated volunteers who keep our mission moving forward. In March, we saw an average of 68 households a day here at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank for a total of 1,515 households in a month. This has been the trend this fiscal year, and if it continues, we’ll see a 25% increase in need from last year.

We have felt this need in our customers’ stories but also in the food flying off the shelves. Families are working hard to make ends meet, but the increased cost of housing and food is very difficult to keep up with. Here at the food bank we feel the same way. We have overspent our food budget from $75,000 to $125,000—and the year isn’t over yet. This is why in this newsletter we’re highlighting our most recent food drives. We’re grateful that our community hops in when we ask for help. I wish all of these challenges were metaphors, but quite literally we will ride out all of these hardships together. Thank you for reading.

Gratefully,

Jill Holder, HRDC Food & Nutrition Director

Food and Fund Drive Results

Pack the Sack
February 14

Bozeman Schools Foundation helped raise over $25,000 for our Healthy KidsPack program through their Pack the Sack fundraiser this year! We're grateful for their support and for donors who helped raise awareness about food insecurity and provide nutritious supplemental food to kids here in Southwest Montana.

Carve Out Hunger
March 25

We carved out hunger at Bridger Bowl before the season ended! We collected a total of 2,634 pounds of food to stock up our shelves during this annual food drive. A huge thank you to Bridger Bowl for hosting and for their generous donation of ski vouchers and a season pass to help make this event possible. Thank you to everyone who showed up and donated! If you missed it this year, put it on your calendar for next March!

Spring for Food
April 8

This year's Spring for Food was a huge success! Our generous community donated 14,468 pounds of fresh produce and shelf-stable food and over $8000 in monetary donations. This haul supplied our store and our Healthy KidsPack program.

Over 100 volunteers showed up to engage shoppers at local grocery stores, and our sponsors (Cardinal Distributing, First Security Bank, and KBZK) helped make this year's success possible. We love our community! 

National Volunteer Month

April is National Volunteer Month! We'd like to thank our volunteers for making our services and programs possible. Last fiscal year, volunteers gave 18,347 total hours of their time to support HRDC's Food & Nutrition programs. Here are a few ways our volunteers help us here at GVFB every single day:

• Warehouse support
• Food Rescue route drivers
• Packing and deliveries
  • Senior Groceries
  • KidsPack
  • Food Boxes
• Summer Lunch
• GVFB Intake
• Gardens
• Food drives & special events

Each of these areas is vital to helping us improve food security here in Southwest Montana. We truly couldn't do this without our volunteers!

People of GVFB

Our Future

Pictured above is a recent photo that captures our progress at Community Commons. The customer-oriented portion of Market Place is the dark grey structure in the center of the image. The warehouse is the connected white building in the background. Also pictured is our future outdoor patio on the ground floor in the forefront of the image.

See the latest Bozeman Daily Chronicle news article on our progress

The video below takes you to an insider's view of the new building including a peak at our future store and warehouse. 

Upcoming Events

April 28: GVFB is closed this Friday for a department meeting.

May 4th-5th: Give Big for HRDC! Support HRDC by donating funds during One Valley Community Foundation's annual 24-hour fundraiser.

May 1: The Mighty Spork schedule begins!

May 13: Annual Stamp Out Hunger drive.

May 14: Haven Mother's Day Run! Join Haven to celebrate Mother's Day and raise awareness about domestic violence in Gallatin Valley.

Save the dates for June:

June 2: Healthy KidsPack takes a break for the summer.

June 12: Beginning of Summer Lunch.

June 19: GVFB is closed to commemorate Juneteenth.

HRDC Highlight

Gallatin Valley Food Bank is a program run by HRDC. HRDC is a nonprofit Community Action Agency serving Southwest Montana. HRDC has over forty programs across various service areas, including Streamline Gallatin Valley's zero-fare bus system.

Buses are on the ballot! By now, your Special District Election ballot should have been delivered to your home.

During this election, voters have the opportunity to vote yes or no to establishing the Gallatin Valley Urban Transportation District (UTD). If approved, the Gallatin Valley UTD will be the future home of HRDC’s Streamline service. There is no cost to form the district.

Important dates to know:

Last day to mail in ballots: Tuesday, April 25. Ballots must be dropped off in person after that date.

Last day to drop off ballots: Tuesday, May 2 by 8:00 pm.

Learn more about the vote, timeline, and why it's important

See the latest news article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle