LIVINGSTON - A bakery that began weeks before the pandemic in 2020, the Livingston Community Bakery continues to provide baked goods, made by Montanans, with Montana ingredients, with all proceeds going back to the Livingston Food Resource Center.
“We have clients with diabetes, heart disease, all these things and we were feeding them food that exacerbates their issues,” George Peirce, the Executive Director of Livingston Food Resource Center, said. “Vicki started baking this bread, and we started distributing it to our clients at the pantry.”
What began at the pantry, with one variety of bread, has turned into a business in downtown Livingston. The community support for the baked goods and donors to the bakery left manager Vicki Blakeman feeling proud.
“We were amazed by the outpour(ing) of support from the community because there hasn’t been a bakery downtown in years,” Blakeman said.
The Livingston Community Bakery uses organic and local ingredients while ensuring that any leftover dough or cooked food does not go to waste. The profit from the bakery goes directly to the community of Livingston and Park County. The bakery also delivers loaves of bread to different food pantry's across the state, for free.
“Any dollar—every dollar—that’s spent here goes straight to programming at the food resource center,” Peirce said.
Currently, the Livingston Food Resource Center serves approximately 450 households in Park County. In the future, the bakery hopes to welcome some of its clients in for apprenticeships in culinary arts.
“ To learn to basics of bread baking, to kitchen sanitation, and basic kitchen skills so people can go and get a job in one of these restaurants that are struggling to hire right now,” Peirce said.
