Hospital ‘March Can-Ness’ Drive Benefits Bitterroot Food Banks

April 8th was the official end of March Madness for college basketball. It was also the final day for "March Can-Ness" - a food drive organized by volunteers at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital, who set up collection teams at the Hamilton hospital. Donations were also made by volunteers at Club RML, a non-profit group comprised of contractors and employees of Rocky Mountain Labs.

The drive ran for three weeks, collecting food for the three food banks in Ravalli County. A dollar donation also was counted as one pound of food. At the end of the drive this week, the drive had brought in over 2,000 pounds for Hamilton's Haven House, Darby's Breadbox and Stevensville's Pantry Partners. The collection was brought together in front of Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital Tuesday morning (see photo above) and then delivered - equal amounts to each food bank. Tracy Bailey of MDMH said this was a way to show appreciation for the people of the Bitterroot Valley: "We want to give back just as much as the community has given us." And she expects there will be more teams in "March Can-ness" next year.