Montana Food Bank Network Receives Large Food Donation of 40,000 Pounds

The Montana Food Bank Network (MFBN) is receiving a substantial donation of 40 thousand pounds of ground beef, breakfast sausage and pork starting on Tuesday, September 26. The hefty donation is thanks to The Producer Partnership.

"We're just super excited. One of our greatest donors and partnerships that we have right now is with a new non-profit that was just formed here recently," said Vice President & COO of Montana Food Bank Network Brent Weisgram.

"It's called the Producer Partnership. They are sourcing donated cattle and hogs from ranchers around the state and they bring them in and process them at their USDA inspective processing facility. Now they're ready to donate an entire semi-load of ground beef and pork to us."

Distribution schedule to Montana cities

With all that food, the distribution will take a few days. It begins today (Tuesday, September 26) at drop-off locations in Billings, Bozeman and Butte. On Wednesday the truck is headed to Helana, Great Falls, Conrad and Browning. Before wrapping the week up on Thursday in Kalispell, Deer Lodge and the Missoula MFBN location.

How did the partnership occur?

The non-profit group Producer Partnership is a fairly new venture started in 2020, and found a partnership with MFBN out of a global pandemic.

"This is a new partnership that evolved out of the pandemic," explained Weisgram. "It started out with Matt [Matt Pierson, Founder and President of The Producer Partnership] just wanting to help out the local community in Livingston where his ranch is at. He was able to donate a couple cattle that he had to help citizens around Livingston that were struggling. Once he started doing that, he realized there was a lot bigger potential."

The Producer Partnership originated in 2020 but has made a significant impact in just three years. Matt Pierson thanks the farmers and ranchers for that.

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"The delivery of these donations is the result of multiple producers, from across the state, that all believe in our simple mission, Farmers and Ranchers working to end hunger in Montana," Pierson said in a press release.

For more information on the Producer Partnership, you can visit its website.

For more information on the Montana Food Bank Network and if you would like to donate,  visit its website.