The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

After spending a month of asking about individual Christmas memories, it became very obvious that most of our memories are around food while sitting with family celebrating and laughing. So, the Christmas Food Baskets are more than just supplying a meal to families needing a little extra help. Christmas baskets are in fact supplying the Christmas memory for the entire family. Currently there are 23 families/100 individuals receiving Christmas Food Baskets.

This year according to Heather Wolery, “F.E. Miley is going to be collecting food items for our community food bank to make Christmas Dinner Baskets.” Kindergarten- 2 Dozen Dinner Rolls, 1st Grade- 2 Boxes of Stuffing, 2nd Grade-2 Bags of Instant Potatoes, 3rd Grade- 2 Cans of Cranberry Sauce, 4th Grade- 2 Cans of Green Beans, 5th Grade-2 Cans of Sweet Potatoes, and the 6th Grade- 2 Packets of Gravy.

It takes an entire community to make a successful food pantry program. Big Sandy Community Church of God supplies the facility and materials. Big Sandy churches supply both monetary and food drives. This year Big Sandy teachers and students have done more than one food-drive. Individual donations of food and money taken to or dropped off at the Grocery Store has really helped. Rotary and Jeff Ament has made contributions as well. But it isn’t all about raising funds. It takes people willing to drive to pick up food and distribute the food to local individuals that don’t have the ability to drive and pick up the food.

Usually food is distributed on Saturdays and those Saturdays are supported by volunteers—drivers, people taking calls, setting up the food available, supervising the site, and the “Set Free Ministries” of Great Falls. The Fort Benton Women’s Club not only supplies food, grocery store coupons, but clothes and toys for children along with the Christmas Food Baskets. The Club bags them up for pick-up and delivery.

Recipients are recommended or they can make a personal request. They can come in and select food on their own on the third Saturday of each month. Saturday’s are “Bread Runs” and “Set Free Ministries” in Great Falls provides the collection of supplies from stores. The type and number of items is uncertain however.

The number of recipients and food selections are increasing. The food bank has freezers that are stocked with a variety of meats that have been donated over time: pork, beef, deer, and elk. Ham and turkey have been bought for the Christmas baskets. There are also refrigerators storing a variety of vegetables, fruits, milk, and eggs. The food bank also has shelves for the storage of dry goods.

The Food Bank Committee members are Lea Ann Williams, Erik Sietesema, Karli Phillips, and Terry Grant. They expressed sincere gratitude all of those making this effort successful. If you would like to purchase the turkey or ham you can leave a donation at the Grocery Store.