Program Director of the Big Sky Community Food Bank Sarah Gaither Bivins (middle) stands with Jill Holder (right), HRDC's Food & Nutrition Department director, and Laine Hegness, an advisory council member to Big Sky’s food bank, at the Big Sky Community Pancake Breakfast on July 27. PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH GAITHER BIVINS
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.
Community members of all ages enjoyed the pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit served at the Big Sky Community Pancake Breakfast. PHOTO BY BAY STEPHENS
“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.