Foto: NPS
By giving back to Glacier, our business partners play a vital role in strengthening our community through philanthropic giving. During these times of uncertainty, we are more thankful than ever for our partners’ continued support in protecting and preserving Glacier National Park for future generations.
Check out how some of our partners are responding to these challenging times and helping stop the spread of COVID-19. We thank them for their support, and hope you will too.
Glacier Bank
As a supporter of Glacier National Park and our local communities across Northwest Montana for decades, Glacier Bank continues to demonstrate its leadership during the coronavirus pandemic. The community bank has processed over 1,000 applications from local businesses through partnership on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), connecting over $100 million dollars in federal funding to small businesses in Northwest Montana. Glacier Bank’s commitment to the safeguarding of our communities and the preservation of Glacier National Park has helped to ensure that our families and our park will continue to thrive in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Whistling Andy Distillery
Whistling Andy Distillery in Bigfork has, in recent years, been well-known for crafting innovative and creative solutions to issues that arise in our local community. After the 2017 Sprague Fire burned much of the historic Sperry Chalet to the ground, Whistling Andy introduced the Spirit of Sperry, a delicious huckleberry-infused vodka, in hopes to raise funds for the reconstruction of the iconic structure. In less than two years, Spirit of Sperry proceeds contributed over $45,000 to the restoration of Sperry Chalet, ensuring that the historic lodge would operate again. Now, Whistling Andy has partnered with The Good Stuff Botanicals to help contribute to reducing the scarcity of hand sanitizing products in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The two small businesses in beautiful Bigfork have teamed up to create and distribute their very own Top Shelf Hand Sanitizer to ensure that residents of the Flathead Valley have ample supplies of hand sanitizing products as quarantine restrictions continue to lift.
Glacier Raft Company
As the largest economic driver in the state of Montana, Glacier National Park supports thousands of local families and communities through a variety of outdoor recreation and tourism-related industries. The coronavirus pandemic has effectively eliminated non-essential travel in recent months, decimating tourism-driven economies across the world. In West Glacier, Glacier Raft Company’s operations are normally in full-swing by mid-May, hosting hundreds of local and non-local park visitors on guided rafting trips each day. This year, however, Glacier Raft had yet to put a single customer on a raft prior to Memorial Day. With federal and state guidelines reshaping the ways in which visitors and locals interact with one another in popular tourist destinations, Glacier Raft Company has committed to continue offering customers unique experiences in a safe and responsible manner by reducing the size of guided raft trips, conducting temperature checks on all guests prior to departure, and offering more private and individualized tours and shuttles.
