BIGFORK — This holiday season, one motorcycle group raised nearly $27,000 worth of food for veterans in need in the Flathead Valley.
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Montana Legends Veteran Donations
In Bigfork, Harvest Foods and the Montana Legends teamed up to make sure local veterans have a holiday meal on the table. Pallet after pallet was loaded into a truck bound for the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry, every box a reminder that no veteran in this valley should go without this holiday season.
The donation ranks among the largest the pantry receives all year.
“This is one of the biggest donations the Veterans Food Pantry gets every year, with all the turkeys and the hams that we do, everybody can have a good Thanksgiving dinner,” Montana Legends Founder John Pettigrew said.
The Montana Legends are more than a motorcycle group. They are veterans looking out for their own. Each year, they host a poker run before Memorial Day weekend to raise money for local veterans in need. Pettigrew said that generosity adds up in a big way.
“Between us, Montana Legends and the Bigfork Harvest Foods, we donate this year probably about $25-27,000worth of food for the Veterans Food Pantry,” Pettigrew said.
For the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry, those donations are a lifeline, keeping shelves stocked when veterans need it most. Pamela Koller, the pantry’s CEO, said the ripple effect lasts far beyond the holidays.
“This kicks off our holiday food drive, and that enables us to be able to feed veterans not only just through the holidays but months and months into the new year,” Koller said.
Koller said the need is real and growing. For some veterans in the Flathead Valley, this donation could mean the difference between a holiday meal and none at all.
“We have such food insecurity in our Valley so this actually could only be their only warm meal for the holiday and so that’s the reason why it’s so important making sure that we’ve taken care of our veterans as they’ve taken care of us,” Koller said.
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