Over 150 businesses are working with the Glacier National Park Conservancy to celebrate One Day for Glacier on Saturday to benefit Glacier National Park. 

The businesses stretch from Kalispell to Great Falls and Whitefish to Bigfork. This is the first year of the One Day for Glacier campaign, and it has been endorsed by every chamber of commerce in the Flathead Valley and beyond.

Participating businesses will ask customers to round up their purchases or donate an extra dollar. Others have made flat donations while some are matching customer donations. 

Each business will have a sign hanging in its window explaining how it is contributing and ways that customers can participate. Customers will be given a Celebrate One Day for Glacier sticker as a thank-you for joining the celebration.

For example, Eisinger Motors and Eisinger Honda in Kalispell will donate $5 for every purchase over $50 on Saturday. Eisinger Honda also donated a leased vehicle to the Conservancy.  

“Glacier is our business,” said Ben Eisinger of Eisinger Automotive Group. “One Day for Glacier is our way to give a little bit back to the park that gives us so much.”  

In Whitefish, several youth groups plan to set up lemonade stands downtown and donate portions of their proceeds to the Glacier National Park Conservancy.

“We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to this campaign,” Conservancy President Mark Preiss said. “Our business partners are deeply invested in the park’s future, and this an important step in developing a more deliberate partnership that celebrates our gateway communities’ tradition of support and Glacier as a vital part of Montana’s economy.”

One Day for Glacier is being celebrated in conjunction with Backpacker’s Ball, the Conservancy’s signature fundraising event. The sold-out event is expected to bring in well over $100,000 in essential support for Glacier National Park.

This year, the Conservancy is investing in over 20 projects throughout the park, from education opportunities for children to trail and lookout rehabilitation and the relocation of the Apgar Visitor Center. 

In August, park and Conservancy officials will review 2015 proposals from different park program areas and identify key funding priorities for the coming year.

To learn more about One Day for Glacier and participating businesses, visit: http://glacierconservancy.org/newsblog/celebrate-1-day-for-glacier-on-august-2/

Glacier National Park Conservancy is the official philanthropic and outreach partner of Glacier Park.

 Online:

glacierconservancy.org.