The Josephine Crossing Summer Concert Series hosted Eat. Share. Give., a nonprofit in Billings that helps feed those in need in the community.
Sarah Moyer, founder of the organization and owner of the "Pay as you can" restaurant in downtown Billings, said Tuesday that it started as a "grassroots" organization that started due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It didn't start as nonprofit. I didn't know we'd be starting a nonprofit. But through COVID, when we did Project Love Billings, and served 21,840 sack lunches to kids at their doorsteps. Once that need was kind of met, we knew we built something really important," said Moyer.
Moyer said that she and volunteers that helped start the organization noticed a big need for food and resources in the community. She said that she knew Eat. Share. Give. was "something special" for Billings.
"When I lost my job in November, it was kind of at the height of the pandemic, and I wasn't really sure what I was going to do. Eat. Share. Give. stepped up, no questions asked," said Kari Boiter, a volunteer for the Continuum of Care.
Boiter said that during the hard time caused by the pandemic, Eat. Share. Give. delivered meals for her family of two, which she said took a weight off of her shoulders.
"When I would come to the door...and get these meals, full meals, pasta, loaves of bread, a salad made with care by volunteers. I knew somebody actually cared about my son and I. That was a pretty low point in our lives and it really made a difference to us," said Boiter.
Eat. Share. Give is accepting donations from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Josephine Crossing amphitheater, where the community can come out to enjoy food and music by John Roberts Y Pan Blanco and local Billings food trucks.
"My long-term hope is for the community to come together and all of these groups that support people in poverty to come up with a solution. It's just too difficult for each one individually to meet the problem. This is going to take a collaborative effort and I'm hoping that this is the beginning of that collaborative effort," said Ione Young, a board member and volunteer for Eat. Share. Give.
