Rating:

5.0 (6 votes)

One of the biggest names in politics was in Missoula on Sunday for non-political reasons. Sarah Palin agreed to help raise money for a teen shelter and addressed a crowd of people hoping to "raise the roof" for Teen Challenge Montana.

Over 1,500 people packed the Hilton Garden Inn to hear Palin speak and she wanted to tell the crowd how god can help teens get through any challenge.

She said right when she walked in her hotel room in Missoula she felt comforted. "There was a big old picture of a Momma grizzly and a couple of cubs and...ah, I'm home...feels like I'm home."

The event was geared at raising $250,000 to expand the Teen Challenge Montana facility, which houses women who are trying to kick habits like drugs and alcohol.

Speakers at the event shared stories of how the organization helps teens across the country and Palin said that she wants to do all she can to help the worth while cause, saying that everyone is "struggling with something".

"But that's what God can do, what his love does, it turns gang members into law abiding citizens, it turns alcoholics into sober freedom loving people, and it takes a drug addict and it puts her live back together," Palin told the crowd.

She added that Teen Challenge is a program that is part school, part church, and part work, saying it yields big results and needs help to keep going.

"Thank you here in Montana for having this heart, making these efforts, it is so worth it. So I say thank you for that, God bless your work, God bless Montana, and God bless the United States of America."

But not everyone was happy to see the former Alaska governor visit the Garden City as more than a dozen protesters lined North Reserve Street as well as the road leading to the hotel where Palin spoke.

They held signs that said things such as, "real women don't quit" and "stupidity isn't cute." One protester said he supports the cause, but doesn't think Sarah Palin should be speaking at it.

"I just think that if they're going to hold a fundraiser for a good cause that they could do that without bringing in a polarizing figure like Sarah Palin, it's alienating some people who would otherwise support this cause," said protester Ryan Siemers, who added that he doesn't think Palin is a good role model in general.

Learn more about Teen Challenge Montana by clicking here.

.