BATTLING HUNGER AND BUILDING COMMUNITY IN THE GALLATIN VALLEY!

Guest blog by Aubree Pierce, MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA with Montana State University
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My project is at the MSU campus food pantry, Bounty of the Bridgers (BoB). We began having pop-up pantries in October of 2017 so we are making adjustments and trying to improve the pantry as we go. My role with this project has been integral in building capacity and creating sustainability for the BoB Pantry. Through this project I have developed relationships with many campus and community partners who have helped push this project forward and are helping create permanence and sustainability on campus. These relationships as well as the support of student volunteers are so critical to the pantry’s success. 

Two of the most important relationships established are with the grocery stores, Rosauers, Safeway, and Albertson’s, and with the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. We currently serve mostly shelf stable items and bakery recovered from local grocery stores. We are greatly supported by the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. They provide us with some produce and we also pick up some produce from grocery stores. However, the supply is often limited and lacking in variety.

I had been in some communication with the campus research farm, Towne’s Harvest Garden, but I felt that this relationship could be stronger and would be a good source to bring more produce to the pantry. I reached out to the farm managers and they were very excited to work more closely with us. They gifted us a space to grow our own produce for the BoB Pantry and are growing extra rows of their normal crops to donate to us in exchange for occasional volunteer help.

After the partnership with Towne’s was established, I applied for and was awarded a grant from Youth Service America and the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation to host a Global Youth Service Day project. For our Global Youth Service Day event, we held a Garden Kick-off and Earth Day party. This event was a huge success because we were able to get more students involved with volunteering as well as some of the pantry clients, and this event helped raise awareness of the BoB Pantry and our dedication to providing fresh, healthy foods to the MSU community.

At this event, volunteers helped prepare the garden beds, plant seeds in the field, plant seeds for transplanting, and plant seeds to take home. We also had a kid's planter pot decorating station, a local food tasting station, and a farm to table educational station.

We will continue to have students and youth volunteer and be involved with the garden through the summer. We are excited to see fresh, nutritious food come to those in need, and we are excited to provide a learning opportunity for children to learn more about gardening, local food, and where their food comes from.

This event was so much fun and a great way to end the semester. I am filled with pride and I am in awe of the enthusiasm of the students and community who came together to work on this project. The students have made the pantry a success. It’s incredible to see so many young individuals engaged in service to better their community. The student volunteers that I am so lucky to be surrounded by are an inspiration and they have made my VISTA service feel so impactful. 

MTCC VISTA DEANNA LINN BRINGS NANOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH TO MSU

Deanna Linn is a Montana Campus Compact VISTA serving with the Girls STEM Collaborative at Montana State University.  She began her service in July 2015.  Below is a press release about the amazing work Deanna is doing at MSU.

BOZEMAN, Mont.—An annual Halloween festival for children received an infusion of nanotechnology when an AmeriCorps VISTA member based at Montana State University brought science outreach activities to the university’s Family & Graduate Housing.

FGH hosts an annual Pumpkin Festival near Halloween, and Deanna Linn, who serves via Montana Campus Compact within MSU’s Extended University, recruited undergraduate and graduate students from MSU’s Chemical and BiologicalEngineering Department to volunteer at the Oct. 17 event.

The team presented several hands-on science activities to approximately 115 children and their families who attended the event, which also included a costume contest, pie-eating contest and pumpkin catapult along with pumpkin bowling, pumpkin painting, bean bag toss, arts and crafts, sack race, tic-tac-toe, cookie decorating, science experiments with bubbles and dry ice, and face painting. This is the first time the annual event has included a NanoDays outreach component. MSU Extended University is part of a national program that helps the public better understand nanoscale science and engineering

Families from around the world live in MSU’s Family Housing complex, where children range from newborn to 18 and who hail from all backgrounds: single-parent families, low-income families, military families, etc. Many countries are also represented, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, China, Japan, Nepal, Lebanon and Brazil as well as families from around Montana and the U.S.

The partnership was a success and has opened up possibilities for future NanoDays and other STEM outreach projects between MSU Family and Graduate Housing and MSU Extended University. Linn shared information about the partnership with the national project, the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, to inspire other organizations to partner with their local Family Housing complex.

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Great work, Deanna!  We can't wait for our next check in to see what all you have accomplished. Keep up the amazing work!

MTCC WELCOMES 16 NEW VISTAS TO SERVICE!

Montana's July 2015 VISTA Class with Lieutenant Governor Angela McLean

The Montana Campus Compact welcomed sixteen new AmeriCorps VISTA members into year-long terms of service with affiliate campuses last week.  These brand new MTCC VISTAs come from cities across the country as well as right here in Montana.  Staff and VISTA leaders spent five days in Helena helping to train, orient and  prepare these inspiring folks for their service.  

Following Montana's Pre-Service Orientation and Swearing In Ceremony with Lieutenant Governor McLean in Helena, MTCC's VISTA class spent two and a half days at the Montana Learning Center on Canyon Ferry for Campus Compact orientation and training, and learning the expectations of service with the Campus Compact network. Staff and members participated in a service projects with Helena Food Share, got familiar with one another, and MTCC's staff and VISTA leaders.  
On Saturday, July 18th we said our goodbyes and sent them on their way to their communities across the state. We wish them the best of luck during their service.  Our July 2015-2016 members and projects include:

Yaritza Aguilar- Dawson Community College Student Success- Glendive
Claire Anderson- Flathead Valley Community College and Sparrow's Nest- Kalispell
Olivia Carney- UM Blackstone LaunchPad- Missoula
Sara Feilzer- The University of Montana and spectrUM Discovery Area- Missoula
Lauren Hall-Montana State University and Montana After School Alliance- Statewide
Deanna Linn- Montana State University and the Girls STEM Collaborative- Bozeman
Jill McIntyre- MSU Blackstone LaunchPad- Bozeman 
Kelsey O'Donnell- UM Blackstone LaunchPad- Missoula
Alexandra Opie- Montana State University and the Children's Museum- Bozeman
Alanna Reid- The University of Montana and Girl Scouts- Missoula
Kelsie Severson-The University of Montana and Big Sky High School- Missoula
Erik Swanson- UM and the Missoula Public Library MakerSpace- Missoula
Jennifer Thimell- MSU Northern Lights Student Success- Havre
Michelle Van Meter- MSU Northern and HRDC IV- Havre
Brylee Zumpf- The University of Montana Western and Women's Resource Center- Dillon
Austin Terreri- VISTA Leader- Statewide, from MTCC Network Office

Keep checking back as we will be posting about the successes and strides our members are making in communities across the state!