Feed Families in Need this Holiday Season

Grace was at her wit's end.  She had to leave her job due to an injury, her husband is a retired veteran with limited mobility, and her father was now ill.  Food was getting more expensive, and food to feed her family – especially healthy organic food – was getting very difficult to afford.

 

Then she learned about Mountain Roots Food Project and our year-round Backyard Harvest food boxes to support local residents.  She connected with us and joined the program. Suddenly she received healthy local produce, meats, and cheeses, recipes and meal ideas, and other resources to help support Grace and her family.

 

Fast forward to November 2025.  Grace’s situation has changed, and while she no longer depends on weekly food boxes she is now working with Mountain Roots to help pack and deliver food to others in need.

 

Life in the Gunnison Valley isn’t easy.  Because of rising costs, thin margins, and the long mountain winter ahead, many neighbors are facing food insecurity at a time of year when we should be enjoying comfort, connection, and a nourishing meal. The disruption in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) by the government shut down directly impacts our neighbors and co-workers.

• 1 in 5 Gunnison residents face food insecurity
• 1 in 3 Gunnison Watershed School District students qualify to receive free or reduced meals & activity fees
• Gunnison County administers an average of approximately $218,000 in monthly SNAP benefits to about 695 households

 

At Mountain Roots, we believe that everyone deserves a delicious, nourishing meal every time they sit down at the table - and especially during the holidays.

 

In response to the growing need in our community, we are expanding opportunities to join the year-round Backyard Harvest program.  In addition, this season we’re partnering with local growers, ranchers, and producers to deliver something special: the Holiday Meal Box.

 

Each Holiday Meal Box recipient will receive a beautifully curated box of local and Colorado-grown vegetables, organic fruit, pasture-raised meat or poultry, and more. These boxes are delivered right to their doorstep so they can prepare a special holiday meal – at Thanksgiving and again in December – at no charge to the family. But it costs us about $50 per box to make happen.

 

“These boxes can truly be holiday meal celebrations. They can give people that sense of joy, of gathering together as a family around food and the dignity that allows.”

-Holly Conn, Executive Director, Mountain Roots Food Project

How many families will you help us feed this holiday season? Your generosity means more than a meal — it means community, care, and hope.

 

MORE THAN ONE BOX: A YEAR-ROUND FOOD SECURITY COMMITMENT

Your support doesn’t just make one meal possible, it strengthens our whole local food system and ensures that families in our valley aren’t left out, no matter the season.

 

Here’s how your gift helps in addition to providing for Holiday Meal Boxes:

• Fresh Backyard Harvest food boxes year-round: We collect, sort, pack and deliver fresh, locally-grown produce into households facing food insecurity all year long.  This will continue throughout the rest of 2025, with expanded opportunities to participate, ensuring a reliable source of food for residents in need.
• Support local and regional producers: During the summer we can source many fresh vegetables from our own farm and community gardens.  At this time of year, we are purchasing most of our food from farmers, ranchers, and other regional producers.
• Neighbors helping neighbors: Mountain Roots may only be the 2nd largest food distributor addressing food insecurity in Gunnison County, but we often work closely with the largest local distributor, the Gunnison Country Food Pantry.  In response to disrupted SNAP benefits, the Pantry is expanding weekday hours and adding Saturday access. Mountain Roots will sponsor fresh regionally sourced produce on Saturdays at the Pantry during this tumultuous time for individuals seeking food assistance.

 

When you support this campaign, you’re sowing seeds of change—from the farm to the plate to the community.

ROOTED LOCALLY. GROWING TOGETHER.

Mountain Roots is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based right in the heart of the Gunnison Valley. Our mission is to cultivate a resilient and equitable food system by enhancing healthy connections between the earth, the food we eat, and the community we live in. We teach skills, foster knowledge, and provide opportunities so that access to affordable, nutritious, locally-produced food is something everyone in our region can count on.

 

This Colorado Gives Day, your gift keeps food local, keeps families nourished, and keeps our community thriving through the holidays and beyond.