Can the Griz be beat in this year’s food drive?

One of the biggest sports rivalries in the state occurs yearly between age-old opponents MSU and the University of Montana (UM). However, the competition isn’t only on the football field — it’s in local food pantries too.

For the 26th year running, the Can the Griz food drive is underway, calling for students and community members to donate, raise money and volunteer. Bobcats will compete with UM from Nov. 8 to 22 to see who collects the most donations for their community.

Kim Cleary, MSU’s community engagement program manager for the Office of Student Engagement, said that for the two weeks leading up to the Cat-Griz Brawl of the Wild football game, each locality is raising as much food and money as it can for its local food banks.

The Bozeman community is raising money for the Bounty of the Bridgers — the campus food pantry — and the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, a food bank run by Human Resource Development Council (HRDC). Every donation to either place during the next two weeks goes towards the competition, she said.

According to Cleary, students can get involved by donating non-perishable food items at collection points around campus, including the library, the Strand Union Building and the residence halls. Monetary donations can also be made online. Cleary said that for anyone who can not give in those ways, volunteering time is just as valuable.

“[Students] might not have food or money to give, but you can also donate your time. To pull this off is an incredibly large feat. It really requires a lot of helping hands,” Cleary said. “There's tons of ways to get involved through volunteering. You can go to canthegriz.org, which is our official website and learn more about some of the volunteer opportunities on our get involved page.”

Jill Holder, food and nutrition director for HRDC, helps oversee multiple initiatives that support those struggling with food insecurity.

Holder said that many people are vulnerable, and it's not always something that can be recognized at first. She said that it's important to support those with less of a safety net than ourselves.

“If we just take a moment and recognize that we all need help sometimes,” Holder said. “And our program is to provide that little bit of help at a time when people are in crisis or near crisis.”

According to Cleary, holding this competition greatly benefits local communities, especially in times like these.

“There's no way for us to know exactly how many students are impacted by any changes going on with SNAP benefits right now, but to be able to offer the food pantry to students who might be affected by that — or even just affected by the cost of living and how expensive groceries have gotten — and all of that is it's a really special thing,” Cleary said.

“It's really important now more than ever that we're supporting that and enabling that program to continue to be available for students,” she said.

According to her, the event brings the entire community together — and everyone benefits.

“At the end of the day, there really are no losers,” Cleary said.

For more information on how to get involved, visit https://www.canthegriz.org/ or visit its Instagram page @msucanthegriz.