BOZEMAN — It’s the competition that comes with the Brawl of the Wild: Can the Griz! This year, hundreds of thousands of pounds of food were donated to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. So, looks like they might be ready for Thanksgiving.
“I love this community. And I’ve been extremely fortunate that I’ve never been hungry,” says Claire Cann.
Cann has volunteered with the Gallatin Valley Food Bank for the last two years.
“It’s just a personal passion. I just don’t want to see anybody go hungry in this very wealthy valley,” says Cann.
Some may say this valley is rich in money, but Cann would say it’s rich with community. Because when she tried volunteering to collect food for Can the Griz?
“All the shifts were filled already! That’s how many volunteers they had," she says.
And this year? They definitely needed the help.
“The number of people that we’re seeing here at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank are really, kind of intense,” says HRDC’s food and nutrition director, Jill Holder. “We used to have an average between 1,400-1,500 households a month. Now we’re seeing close to 2,000 households a month."
Every day, the food bank is giving away more than 7,000 pounds of food—which is why the success of this year’s Can the Griz food drive is vital. This year was Holder’s 14th Can the Griz.
“It used to be like 20,000 pounds. And now? We’re already up to this huge number”.
This year, the Cats took the win by raising 652,876 pounds of food. Missoula was close behind, raising 649,278. But together, this 25th annual food drive brought in more than 1.3 million pounds of food—and dollars—to improve food security in southwest Montana.
“Sometimes you need help. And sometimes you can give help. And that’s what community is all about,” says Holder.
And, just in time for the holidays.
“Those people that are already struggling and having a hard time? They can enjoy that special family and friends time of year as well. Without having to worry about, ‘Ok, if I spend this money on Thanksgiving, then I won’t have money for groceries the next week,'” says Cann.
