The Billings Food Bank staff and community volunteers started their Thanksgiving morning by preparing and delivering meals to those that are in need in the community.
“We are happy to help anyway we can. We are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and this is what we do. We are out here to help the community,” said Jonathan Ogden a volunteer and missionary.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Billings Food Bank had to make some changes to the way meals were served.
“Well it certainly effects most of us that are in food banking because we are trying to social distance. We are not allowing people actually into the building to pick up their boxes. We are putting and taking everything out to the cars,” said Sheryle Shandy, Billings Food Bank executive director.
Volunteers were bringing food out to recipients and loading their cars as well as delivering them to various places in town, including the highway patrol and sheriff’s department.
Shandy said that there have been over 1,000 meals prepared for people in need and they are still accepting applications for recipients. She says that this year there is no vetting process and they are offering meals to anyone who applies.
Shandy says she wants to thank the community for their continued support.
“A lot of the people who are supporting us now are the ones that used to come to us for food, so we have gotten our own little community of people who think the same way we do about getting people fed,” said Shandy.
