Town Pump raising funds for food bank, soup kitchen

Now in its 15th year, the Town Pump Charitable Foundation hopes to raise over $3 million in its annual fundraising campaign for food banks across Montana, including the Havre Community Food Bank and the Feed My Sheep Soup Kitchen.

A record 79 food banks are participating in the statewide “Be A Friend in Deed, Helping Those in Need” campaign this year. The campaign has raised over $23 million for food banks statewide in 14 years, including about $4 million in matching grants from the Town Pump Charitable Foundation. As part of this year’s campaign, the Town Pump Charitable Foundation will match up to $500,000 in contributions to participating Montana food banks made now through Nov. 30.

The Foundation will match up to $7,500 on behalf of the Havre Food Bank, and $1,000 on behalf of the Feed My Sheep Soup Kitchen. All funds raised in Havre will remain in the community.

The money is often used to purchase perishable food items such as milk, bread, fruit and vegetables. Also, the funds are becoming more crucial in helping many food bank organizations simply stay open through payment of rent, utilities, and space for storage, refrigeration and freezing.

“The Town Pump matching funds fundraiser is one of our biggest money raisers of the year for the food bank,” said Lorna Bjerga, manager of the Havre Food Bank. “This money helps us to buy the food we need for families in need.”

Bjerga said the food bank has seen an increase in the number of people in need of food “because their paycheck just doesn’t stretch far enough, or they’ve been laid off.”

The Havre Community Food Bank is a program provided and supported by the District 4 HRDC.

The Town Pump Charitable Foundation has been assisting the state’s food banks with their vital service since 2002.

“Thank you to our food bank partners across the state and to everyone who has made the ‘Be A Friend in Deed, Help Those in Need’ campaign such a great success over the years,” said Maureen Kenneally, of the Town Pump Charitable Foundation. “The inspiring effort by so many is making a real difference in the lives or our hungry neighbors.”

Donations for the campaign are being collected at Havre Town Pumps; Lucky Lil’s, Montana Lil’s and Magic Diamond Casinos; and TownHouse Inn. Donations also can be made directly to Havre Food Bank, 2229 Fifth Ave., or the Feed My Sheep Soup Kitchen, P.O. Box 407, both in Havre, MT 59501.