Blackfoot Donates $6,000 to Area Food Banks

At Blackfoot, we have a tradition of giving back to the communities where we live and work. For the last several years, the Blackfoot Board of Trustees has celebrated the holiday season by donating to several food banks in our service areas which is now more than $25,000 to date. In the spirit of giving back, we proudly delivered $500 individual checks this month to each of the following agencies with great appreciation for their commitment to help those in need around us.

* Alberton Community Food Pantry

* Community Food Bank of Mineral County

* Community Harvest Food Bank

* Community Services Fellowship

* Face-To-Face Food Pantry aka Granite County Food Bank

* Great Falls Community Food Bank

* Jocko Valley Food Pantry

* Mission Valley Food Pantry

* Missoula Food Bank

* MT Food Bank Network

* Plains Community Food Bank

* Seeley Swan Community Food Bank

"Sometimes it’s an easy misperception that hunger isn’t a big problem in Montana," said Bill Squires, Blackfoot’s Chief Executive Officer. "But we realize that it’s a huge need and has an economic impact on schools, families, public health and the future well being of our state." According to the Montana Food Bank Network, over 175,000 individuals received emergency food through their network outreach in 2010. Nearly half of these people are children. Hunger is a symptom of poverty. When people don’t have enough money to cover their basic needs, they are forced to reduce food quality and quantity. "Blackfoot is grateful to play a small part in providing holiday meals to those struggling at this time of year," said Squires.

Blackfoot Telecommunications Group (Blackfoot) offers advanced telecommunications solutions to customers in Western Montana including voice, data, IT and security services. Named after the Blackfoot River running through much of the territory it serves, Blackfoot was originally established in 1954 as Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative and is headquartered in Missoula, Montana. Today, the Blackfoot family of companies include Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative – a member-owned cooperative; Blackfoot Communications – a competitive local exchange company; and TeleSphere Software, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary offering professional services to the telecom industry. Read about Blackfoot products and services at http://www.blackfoot.com. Learn about Blackfoot in our communities at http://www.facebook.com/BlackfootTelecomm.

Company Contact: Joel Block, VP of Customer Care & Marketing Blackfoot Telecommunications Group
V: 406-541-5400 | M: 406-532-5400 [email protected]