The Great Falls Community Food Bank is getting ready for a busy fall and winter with a lot of local food drives going on as the community continues to see a need for food.
Winter weather is upon us and so are several food drives going on in the Great Falls community to address rising costs.
“Heat bills are going up, inflation is still affecting people, and the need is still as high as we’ve seen it,” food bank director Shaun Tatarka said.
The food bank is partnering with several organizations and have at least ten food drives going on in the community throughout the next month. They say the need for food continues to be at an all-time high as winter weather starts to set in.
"We have barrels that we put out for various food drives around town. And literally we are out of barrels right now. That's how involved the public is with raising money for us, which we really appreciate. And the public has supported us tremendously over the past decade plus. But right now, it hasn't seemed to let up. We load the shelves up on Monday at 3:00, and by Tuesday at the same time, they're empty. This is the greatest need that we have seen in the past decade."
The food drives are looking for all donations, as all the organizations doing food drives know the community need for food and want to do their part in helping out. Lionheart Cannabis is one local business running a food drive. They are partnering with the Rescue Mission and are taking winter items such as coats and gloves as well as food.
“We've dealt with the medical community here for so long and you see the people who are in need,” manager Allissa Karlson said. “You look at our rescue mission downtown and you see the homeless vets and you see the people that really need help and because we work with those people so closely, it hits pretty close to home. So we kind of took it up there. And it's a great way to get people in the door and give them a little bit of a leg up during the holiday season, too."
This is a list of food drives that the Great Falls Community Food Bank working with.
- Benefis Nurse Practitioner Cat/Griz – Nov 7 thru Nov 21
- Great Falls Cross Fit – Nov 8 thru Nov 28
- Heidelberg Bar – Nov 10 thru Nov 28
- Kellys Komix – Nov 10 – Nov 14
- GFPS Cat/Griz – Nov 14 thru Nov 21
- Eagles Falls Pro Shop Nov 15 thru Dec 27
- GF Americans Hockey – Nov 23 thru Nov 29
- Day of Giving @ Smith’s – Nov 29 (one day only)
- City Court “Food for Fines” - Dec 2 (one day only)
- Justice Court “Food for Fines” – Dec 6 thru Dec 8
- Showdown Ski Hill Food Drive – Dec 10 (one day only)
We will provide more details of some of the above events as the dates get closer.
