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Epic Montana

(White Sulphur Springs, MT) – Thanks to proceeds from last year’s Red Ants Pants Music Festival, the Red Ants Pants Foundation announced $12,000 in grants for organizations across Montana. Fourteen organizations from across the state received grants for projects in line with the mission of the Red Ants Pants Foundation.

The Red Ants Pants Music Festival is produced by and benefits the nonprofit Red Ants Pants Foundation which, to date, has provided more than $45,000 in grants to projects that support women’s leadership, working family farms and ranches, and enriching rural communities.

"I’m inspired by the heart and hard work that all of these grant recipients are putting into their businesses and communities. We’re thankful to all who support the Red Ants Pants Music Festival and hope to give out even more in grants in 2016,” said Sarah Calhoun, Executive Director of the Red Ants Pants Foundation.

Please join us in congratulating all 14 recipients of the Red Ants Pants Foundation 2015 Community Grants:

Agriculture in Montana Schools (AMS), $500—White Sulphur Springs, Montana

AMS provides agricultural educational materials to Montana teachers, students, and public libraries. Grant funding from the Red Ants Pants Foundation will help with the production of a video for elementary students about the production of beef in Montana.

Big Timber Meats, $1,500—Big Timber, Montana

Big Timber Meats is introducing a new line of 100% meat dog treats. Blue Dog Provisions are made of only one ingredient – smoked Montana beef, lamb and pork offal that come straight from the butcher shop! Funds from the Community Grant will be used for logo and packaging design.

Clark Fork Organics, $750—Missoula, Montana

Clark Fork Organics is a family-run farm that provides healthy food to the communities of the Missoula Valley. Funds will go towards the construction of a root washer so the farm can increase production of carrots, beets, celeriac and potatoes and grow their small business.

Claudia’s Mesa, $1,000—Bozeman, Montana

Claudia's Mesa is a food emporium that brings a taste of foreign lands to Montana using local ingredients and supporting local growers, ranchers and producers. While Montana is the largest producer in the country of organic and non-organic lentils, most people in the state are not familiar with this powerhouse food. Claudia’s Mesa teamed up with Timeless Food pulse and grain farmers from Montana's Golden Triangle in an effort to introduce rural Montanans to lentils, chick peas and ancient grains through cooking demonstrations and tastings. Financial support will help to fund trips to towns like Havre, Fort Benton, Baker and Lewistown, and allow for printing of recipes and recipe ingredients.

County Rail Farm, $811—Dixon, Montana

County Rail is a small diverse vegetable farm just east of Dixon, Montana. They provide homegrown and organic produce to local communities via Farm Shares, two Missoula farmers markets, and through the Western MT Growers Co-Op. Grant funding will go towards infrastructure improvements they are implementing to achieve Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification.

Flathead FFA, $500—Kalispell, Montana

Flathead FFA is one of the many fine FFA programs in the state. FFA helps high school students become successful adults by providing opportunities in a wide variety of career experiences. This program seeks to provide new opportunities as well as stay up to date with more traditional career paths. To support the high school welding programs in the Flathead Valley, funding from the Foundation will go toward the purchase of auto-darkening welding helmets.

Livingston Women in Business, $750—Livingston, Montana

Livingston Women in Business (LWIB) is Park County, Montana's only forum for networking, professional development, community involvement and peer resources specifically created for women. Funds from the Foundation will assist LWIB with operational costs for monthly meetings and guest speakers.

Luther School PTA and Wholesome Food Farm, $1,000—Red Lodge, Montana

Luther School is a rural K-8 school in Carbon County, Montana. In cooperation with the local family-run Wholesome Foods Farm, Luther School started providing farm visits and local produce to school children. With the support from the Foundation, Luther school will be able to increase the number of farm visits and provide students with year-round access to locally grown foods in their school lunch program.

Montana Outdoor Science School (MOSS), $1,100—Bozeman, Montana

MOSS’s mission is to promote an awareness, understanding and appreciation of the natural world through quality educational experience. Funding from the Foundation will provide scholarships so that underserved women can participate in MOSS’s ‘Adventures in Outdoor Science Summer Program.’

One Montana Hornet Vinyl Project, $1,000—White Sulphur Springs, Montana

In cooperation with One Montana, Hornet Vinyl is a high school business and class designed to create vinyl promotional products for the community of White Sulphur Springs. The development of Hornet Vinyl was spearheaded by senior students and is an effort to get high school students interested in entrepreneurship. Grant funding will assist in the purchase of equipment to develop this community business.

Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation, $1,489—Missoula, Montana

The Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation connects citizens and communities to stewardship opportunities in the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness areas and surrounding wildlands. Funding from the Foundation will provide four weeks of professional wilderness skills training and experiential learning for one female Wilderness Ranger Intern, who will spend the summer accomplishing priority wilderness work.

The Shovel and Spoon, $500—Sheridan, Montana

The Shovel and Spoon is a bakery and café in rural Sheridan, Montana. The woman-owned small business prepares home cooked meals with local ingredients for Ruby Valley residents. The café plans to improve upon their existing community gathering place by offering live music. Funds from the Foundation will help grow this aspect of the small business.

Valler Mercantile, $600—Lincoln, Montana

Valler Mercantile is an up-and-coming woman-owned community food store in Lincoln, Montana. The vision of Valler Mercantile is to bring healthy, fresh food to the valley; to purchase produce, eggs, milk and artisan products from local producers; to help create new income sources; to provide healthy living skills-training and sustainable living classes; and to become a community gathering place to exchange ideas, skills, encouragement and support. Funding from the Foundation will go toward the purchase of a chest freezer for the store.

Women Stepping Forward for Ag, $500—Lambert, Montana

The mission for the Women Stepping Forward for Agriculture (WSFA) conference is to empower women involved in all sectors of agriculture through education, collaboration, and communication, to ensure the success of farms and ranches across the region. Funding from the Foundation will be used to bring in a nationally renowned keynote speaker to the 2015 WSFA conference, Marji Guyler-Alaniz, the founder and president of FarmHer Inc. Ms. Guyler-Alaniz is an Iowa-based photographer who created FarmHer and is focused on helping change the perception of what people think of when they hear “farmer” by photographing women in agriculture.

Montana Rooted: Inspired by Nature