Dixon School receives freezer donation

The Producer Partnership has awarded $23,610 in matching grants to Dixon School District, as well as schools in Ennis and Rau, to purchase freezers.

According to a press release, the grant program helps school districts that don’t have adequate freezer space to store meat harvested from cull animals donated by local farmers and ranchers. Cull animal donations are processed into top-quality protein at no charge by the Livingston-based Producer Partnership at its USDA approved meat-processing plant – the first nonprofit of its kind in the United States.

The organization was established during COVID to help address food insecurity in Montana, and has since donated more than 250,000 pounds of meat to the Montana Food Bank Network and other charities across the state.

“The matching freezer grant program was initiated to help school districts across Montana who do not have adequate freezer storage space to store cull animal donations from local farmers and ranchers,” said founder and president Matt Pierson. He credited AMB West Foundation and other funders with helping them “bring local protein to the lunchroom in schools across the state.”

Learn more about the organization at www.producerpartnership.com.