Celebrating our 2nd Anniversary!
Here it is: the news you’ve been waiting for your whole life! Okay, maybe not your whole life, but hopefully you’ve heard some of the buzz by now & you’re at least a little curious…
As of February 1st, 2021, the UM Food Pantry has been open for TWO years, during which we have grown immensely. We are currently distributing over 1,000 lbs. of food and personal care products to 60 households each month, on average. We added 168 new customers to our database in 2020, and we now serve 395 households in Missoula County. We have also grown our SNAP assistance program considerably, helping to support over 13 individuals through their SNAP application process.
While we are not thrilled to report on the current state of growing food insecurity, we do want to acknowledge our impact & celebrate our hard work over this past year. Thus, we have put together a series of events to raise funds and awareness of our services throughout the third week in February — UM students, staff, faculty, and community members are encouraged to participate!
In light of Covid-19, the UM Food Pantry has once again partnered with Grizzly eSports to create a fun, virtual opportunity for engagement. In lieu of an in-person event, Grizzly eSports will be hosting a tournament on their streaming platform, February 16th — 19th, during which they will help to promote and raise funds for the UM Food Pantry. Games include Rocket League, Overwatch, Minecraft, and League of Legends. A full schedule of events can be found on Grizzly eSports’ GrizHub page. To livestream the tournament, please visit twitch.tv/grizzlyesportsum. If you or your organization would like to sponsor a player or team, please reach out to Cale Patenaude at cale.patenaude@mso.umt.edu.
Additionally, the UM Food Pantry will host a *virtual reception* on Thursday, Feb. 18th, from 6:00–7:30 pm. This will be an opportunity to mingle and learn about the impact the pantry has had over this past year. We will also take this opportunity to highlight our community partners who have helped us along the way. The reception will take place on a platform called Gather, and will feature videos, games, prizes, and more!
Gather is a pretty nifty communications platform: it’s kind of like Zoom, if Zoom were inserted into an 80s video game. Don’t worry — Gather is user-friendly, even for those of us who are not incredibly tech-savvy (yes, we include ourselves in that statement). Instructions for how to participate can be found here — we promise that it will be way more fun than a Zoom call!
Click 2nd Anniversary of the UM Food Pantry- *Virtual Reception* Tickets, Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite to RSVP!
If you’re not into video games or spending more time on online communications platforms than is absolutely necessary, but would still like to make a donation to the UM Food Pantry, please consider contributing to our Anniversary Fundraising Campaign, which will be active from Feb. 16th — 19th.
All funds raised during this campaign will go directly towards purchasing inventory for the UM Food Pantry, and will make a tangible difference in the lives of the people we serve.
Thank you for being a friend of the UM Food Pantry! We hope to see you soon.
