Can the Griz 2026: Bring Us Your Cans & Enter to Win Our Bozeman Giveaway

Bozeman, we have a challenge for you.

Can the Griz is back for 2026, and this year Tamara Williams & Company is changing things up.

Instead of waiting for us to come to you, we want you to come see us.

From November 7–21, bring your nonperishable food donations to Tamara Williams & Company and help us fill our office with food for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank.

And because we want to make this year's drive our biggest one yet, we're adding a little extra incentive:

Our Goal: Beat 2,110 Pounds

We're getting competitive this year.

In 2024, our community helped Tamara Williams & Company collect 1,449 pounds of food.

Then Bozeman absolutely showed up in 2025.

Together, we collected 2,110 pounds of food for Can the Griz.

So naturally, there is only one thing left to do in 2026:

Beat it.

Our goal is to collect more than 2,110 pounds of food before the final whistle on this year's drive, and we need your help to make it happen.

How to Donate to Can the Griz With Us

This year, we're making our office the destination.

Grab a few of the Gallatin Valley Food Bank's most-needed items, bring them to Tamara Williams & Company during the Can the Griz collection period and we'll add your donation to our growing 2026 total.

Every can counts. Every box of pasta counts. Every jar of peanut butter counts.

And yes, we're keeping track of just how high that number gets.

What Should You Donate?

The Gallatin Valley Food Bank maintains a current wish list of items that are particularly helpful for stocking its shelves.

Requested foods currently include:

• Canned fruit
• Canned soup
• Canned vegetables
• Canned beans
• Canned meat
• Canned tomato products
• Peanut butter
• Pasta
• Cereal
• Rice

If you're heading to the grocery store, add a few of these items to your cart and bring them by our office.

Please make sure donations are unopened, properly labeled and suitable for distribution. The Food Bank cannot accept rusty or unlabeled cans, homemade or noncommercially packaged foods, open or partially used products, alcoholic beverages or improperly stored perishables.

And Yes... There's a Giveaway

Doing something good for our community is already reason enough to participate.

But this is Can the Griz. A little friendly competition feels appropriate.

Everyone who makes a qualifying donation at the Tamara Williams & Company office during our 2026 Can the Griz drive will have the opportunity to enter our Can the Griz Giveaway.

We're filling the prize with some of the best local goodies we can get our hands on from businesses around Bozeman.

Think of it as a celebration of two things we love: supporting our community and supporting the local businesses that make Bozeman, Bozeman.

We'll be revealing what's inside the giveaway as Can the Griz gets closer, so keep an eye on Tamara Williams & Company on social media for the full prize reveal.

What Is Can the Griz?

If you're new to Bozeman, here's the story.

Can the Griz is the annual off-field competition between Montana State University and the University of Montana to see which community can collect the most donations for its local food bank.

Bozeman and the Bobcats collect for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, while the University of Montana community competes on behalf of its local food bank in Missoula.

Food and monetary donations are counted toward each community's total, turning one of Montana's biggest rivalries into an opportunity to support families across the state.

2026 marks the 27th year of Can the Griz.

And while we're certainly biased, Bozeman has a pretty good record: the Bobcats have successfully canned the Griz 21 of the previous 26 years.

When Is Can the Griz 2026?

The official 2026 Can the Griz competition runs from Saturday, November 7 through Saturday, November 21.

The competition leads directly into one of the biggest days on the Montana sports calendar: Cat-Griz.

The 125th Brawl of the Wild takes place Saturday, November 21 in Bozeman, with Montana State hosting the University of Montana.

The Can the Griz winner will be announced during the game.

So yes, we would very much like to send the Griz home with two losses.

Why Can the Griz Matters

The rivalry makes Can the Griz fun.

The reason behind it is much bigger.

Food drives help the Gallatin Valley Food Bank stock nutritious food for people and families throughout our community while also raising awareness about food insecurity in Southwest Montana.

The Food Bank accepts both food and financial contributions. Monetary donations are especially useful because its purchasing power allows the organization to buy food in bulk while also supporting the operations needed to keep food moving throughout the community.

So while we will absolutely be watching the pound count and trying to beat the Griz, the real win is seeing Bozeman show up for its neighbors.

Why We're Doing Things Differently This Year

In previous years, you may have spotted our team making the rounds with Can the Griz bags or dropping information throughout Bozeman and Belgrade.

For 2026, we want to bring everyone together.

We want to see clients walk through the door with a bag of cans. We want friends to stop by with peanut butter and pasta. We want local businesses, neighbors, Bobcat fans and anyone else who wants to participate to help us watch that donation pile grow.

And we want to see whether this community can push us beyond the 2,110 pounds we collected last year.

You don't have to be a client.

You don't have to know us.

You don't even have to care about real estate.

If you want to help feed people in our community and Can the Griz while you're at it, come see us.

Can't Make It to Our Office? 1227 N 14th Ave, Bozeman, MT

You can still participate in Can the Griz.

Food donations can be made through official collection locations around Bozeman during the competition, and monetary donations can also count toward the Bobcats' total.

The most important thing is participating however you can.

But if you want your shot at our local giveaway and want to help us chase our 2,110-pound office goal, bring your food donations directly to Tamara Williams & Company.

Can the Griz 2026 FAQs

About Tamara Williams & Company

Tamara Williams & Company is an independent Bozeman real estate brokerage serving buyers and sellers throughout Southwest Montana. We're proud to call this community home and to support the local organizations, businesses and traditions that make Bozeman such a special place to live.

Can the Griz has become one of our favorite annual traditions, and we're excited to see what Bozeman can accomplish in 2026.

Bring us your cans. Bring your friends. Tell your neighbors.

Let's beat 2,110 pounds and Can the Griz.

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