Foodbank ‘breaks fast’ with Big Sky community

By Bay Stephens EBS LOCAL EDITOR

BIG SKY – Taken literally, “breakfast” means to break the nightly fast, and what better way to do that than with one’s community? That’s what the Big Sky Community Food Bank did the misty morning of July 27 when they hosted their Big Sky Community Pancake Breakfast.

In the midst of a week jam-packed with Big Sky PBR, groundbreaking for Big Sky’s first community center and several evening concerts, 36 volunteers served pancakes, smoky bacon and fruit to some 223 community members, despite a bout of rain in the middle of the event.

The breakfast raised $3,000 for the food bank, though that wasn’t the main goal, according to Big Sky food bank program coordinator Sarah Gaither Bivins.

“It’s mostly to raise awareness and community support and participation for the foodbank,” Gaither Bivins said. “I think still a lot of people don’t realize that we have a foodbank in Big Sky.”

Local grocers—Roxy’s, the Country Market and The Hungry Moose—helped to offset costs, while local businesses offered raffle items such as VIP tickets to Big Sky PBR from Outlaw Partners, a half-day guided fly fishing trip from Spencer Crider of East Slope Outdoors and a wildlife photography piece from Patricia Bauchman.

According to the food bank’s website, Big Sky’s food bank serves working households whose income doesn’t cover food expenses, seasonally employed households, older adults on fixed incomes and those temporarily experiencing homelessness.

Gaither noted that she usually sees an uptick in clients coming into the food bank in the fall when seasonal workers arrive in Big Sky and are trying to make rent for their first month.

Visit bigskyfoodbank.org to learn more about the Big Sky Community Food Bank.