Eat with Monte, the Griz Mascot

Here's your chance to have pancakes with Monte, the Griz mascot!

Last year as Mrs. Missoula, I had the honor of being kissed by Monte and sprayed with whip cream! Totally silly and fun.

The annual pancake breakfast is sponsored by Paul's Pancake Parlor and the proceeds go to the Jadyn Fred Foundation.

The Jadyn Fred Foundation assists Montana (and some surrounding states) children and their families get help toward expenses that insurance doesn't cover. For example, insurance may cover treatment at a hospital but not the hotel or groceries for extended stays. Some families have even needed gas money to get to the hospital. It's amazing how draining a long term illness can be on a family.

The Jadyn Fred Foundation supports those needs and families through a three tier system. You can check out the website and see how many kids are getting helped through this great program that was started to honor a little girl named Jadyn. It's a genuinely loving organization that I feel is so important. Often the family cannot afford to stay with the child. That means a little one has to be in a hospital without the support of their family. And yes, this does happen because mom and dad are so busy trying to keep the family going while paying out more and more money to keep their child healthy or alive. No one wants to leave their child in the hospital all alone. Sometimes it is a choice of that and living in a car. Some families do that too in order to stay by their child.

This is where the Jadyn Fred Foundation comes in. They intervene by giving the funds needed to provide a bed, food and gas so mom and dad can be there as much as possible.

So you don't have a ton to give? Don't worry about it. Just go have some breakfast Saturday, Feb. 21st, at Paul's Pancake Parlor in Missoula.

But what if you had a tiny bit extra? There will be fun drawings for Griz Gear, autographed basketballs from both the men's and women's Griz teams and even beautiful Griz watches donated by a local jeweler. The tiny bit? A whole $2 for a raffle ticket.

So plan for a nice Saturday out and enjoy being a part of something bigger than ourselves. Something that reaches out to help the children who really need some of the simplest things like gas/groceries and their mom and dad during intense medical treatments.

And if you see me around town, I'll have raffle tickets available. You don't have to be present to win all those fun Griz things or the $300 Griz basket from Dillard's. So if your schedule allows, pancakes galore. If it doesn't, you can still holler for some raffle tickets and I'll run them over to you so we can help more kids and their families.

Angie