Park Co Opens Food Pantry Doors

The Livingston Resource Center was located in an old automotive repair shop on the outskirts of town. With only 500 sq. feet of space, the pantry quickly outgrew their location. The project entailed the purchase of property in the historic downtown area in Livingston, MT and the construction of a 2,000 sq. foot offices that house a meeting/food service room, storage, commercial kitchen, and food pantry.

The Livingston Food Pantry of Park County opened their doors in 2015 thanks to a Montana Department of Commerce, Community Development Block Grant of $450,000 (along with the in-kind donation of the pass-through entity, the City of Livingston) and the hard work and determination of the Food Pantry Director, Michael McCormick. He had a vision of constructing a food pantry in the downtown area that also housed a meeting/food service room, cold and dry storage areas, office spaces, and a commercial kitchen.

The commercial kitchen will allow local individuals to process their own foods to sell privately or donate to the Food Pantry. What an amazing idea; promoting the use of local food for everyone, while also supporting local food industry businesses! The food pantry area is similar to a grocery area that will is discrete so individuals using the pantry will never feel judged while shopping for needed items. The food service and meeting room will be used to raise funds for the pantry through rentals of the area and will also be used for the future after school and summer meal programs.

This project has been so amazing to work on, as it benefits at least 350 families (600+ people) per month. Furthermore, it can be used as a template for other communities when they start their own food pantries. Michael McCormick and his dedication to making a change in this world is something everyone can learn from! Thank you for your hard work and efforts Michael!

Funding activities included, but were not limited to: grant research; income surveys; application preparation and submission; meetings with funders; preparing a project management plan; coordinating all sources of funding; establishing and maintaining project files and preparing project progress reports; reviewing proposed expenditures to ensure their propriety and proper allocation to the project budget; and, preparing closeout documents. The total cost of the project was $1,018,075 and was raised with zero debt service.

Project Developer and Manager for Nittany Grantworks during the application process of this project. Employee of the the City of Livingston during the management portion of this project.