BOZEMAN — More than 30,000 meals were packed and donated to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank on Thursday as part of the "Operation Conquer Hunger" campaign by nutritional supplement company MTN OPS.
"What we’re doing here is a small part of MTN OPS, but a big part of who we are," says Sheryle Mounteer, director of Operation Conquer Hunger.
Mounteer says the CEO of MTN OPS, Trevor Harnes, experienced food insecurity in his own life.
"And so, once we started the brand and we realized we could help others in similar situations, we started the initiative," says Nick Hanks, Chief Operating Officer of MTN OPS.
MTN OPS was invited to Thursday's TOUGHFEST by MTNTOUGH, a local fitness app. And nearly 140 volunteers showed up to TOUGHFEST to pack food for HRDC's Healthy KidsPack program.
"We really saw a jump in usage of that program, especially when grocery prices went up. And so events like this will really help us to mitigate that high cost of food so that we can keep running the program," says Rachel Salang, outreach coordinator at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank.
"To be able to bring people together—they’ll stand shoulder to shoulder today and before this event is over, there will be kind of a sweet community that is kind of created," says Mounteer.
"The whole goal of this entire day is to build community, serve our community, and show people the mental toughness and grit that MTNTOUGH is all about," says MTNTOUGH Chief Marketing and Operating Officer Ryan Watson. "The big thing with MTNTOUGH is doing the hard thing, you know. Choose the more difficult path, serve your community, do more in your life—personally and around you."
For more information on Operation Conquer Hunger, visit the MTN OPS website.
More information about MTNTOUGH is available at its website.
