Local food banks scramble for holiday fare

By NANCY KIMBALL / Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead Food Bank in Kalispell desperately needs turkeys and holiday food items to restock its empty shelves.

In a perfect storm of need, demand for its Thanksgiving food boxes is up 35 percent over last year just as several donation sources are drying up.

Only 350 turkeys were on hand in the Kalispell warehouse by mid-day Thursday, with twice that many families expected to sign up for next week's dinners.

Independent food banks in Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Lakeside, and the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry in Evergreen are beginning to feel much the same pinch.

Donations are down because individual donors have tighter pocketbooks. Grocery stores are keeping shorter inventories and donating less. The court's "food for fines" program recently was ruled a violation of statute by a Missoula court. And Safeway in Whitefish, one of the groceries that donated leftover goods, is closed for reconstruction.

In Kalispell, Evergreen, Bigfork, Marion and Martin City, Flathead Food Bank will be providing Thanksgiving dinner to more than 700 families.

Office Manager and Volunteer Coordinator Alexandra Bussey said 600 families already are signed up to receive Thanksgiving food boxes. Another 100 are expected by the time staffers and volunteers finish signing them up today.

"In August, we were serving 100 families a day on average," Bussey said. "Then on Oct. 28 we served 177 families in one day. At all five pantries it was 350 families, and we gave out 12,000 pounds of food in one day.

"It's been that constant flow. For several weeks in a row we were breaking our record every week," she said. "It's been about 160 families a day, and we're really not dropping below that."

During the holidays a year ago, it was about 110 families a day.

It's not just that numbers are up, she said, but their demographics are changing. Layoffs, cutbacks in work hours and rising costs of living mean the food bank's parking lot is seeing more SUVs and nice cars - vehicles that, often, they cannot sell and convert the cash to groceries - and its reception area is filled with more folks in professional dress.

"They're in a situation now where they can't pay their bills and they can't put food on the table," Bussey said.

"Poverty is not a black-and-white situation. There are going to be a lot of shades of gray. If people come in with a need, we will do whatever we can to help them."

High demand forced Flathead Food Bank to tighten guidelines for recipients this Thanksgiving - only families of three or more, or two-member families if it's a parent and child. The rest are referred to Sykes' which will continue its tradition of free Thanksgiving dinner for the community.

But Bussey said there's a lot of good in the picture, too.

"Earlier this year we had only one day's supply of meat left, so we faxed out a PSA [public service announcement for the media]. Within 15 minutes we were flooded with calls," she said.

"The need in our community is just so high right now, and our community has been so awesome to step up and fill that need."

In Whitefish, North Valley Food Bank seems to be a bright spot.

Executive Director June Munski-Feenan said turkey, ham or chicken will be in the 350 boxes they expect to distribute right now. If more than 350 are needed, they will charge the food at a local store and round up contributors to cover the bill.

With donations from the likes of the Halliburton company, which made a generous donation last week, that shouldn't be hard. Whitefish Mountain Resort makes a food bank donation to cover its seasonal workers in the first two weeks before they get their paychecks.

Food donations flow in, too. A produce stand closed and donated 1,000 pound of potatoes. The American Legion gave a good supply of turkeys. Five cases of eggs came in from Hedstrom's. Hill Brothers Towing brings in road-killed elk and deer for their volunteer meat-cutters to package and freeze. Churches and school children pitch in with food drives.

"The good Lord is taking care of us," Munski-Feenan said. "We got three elk last week so we can survive if we have hard times."

"We won't let anybody go hungry," she said. "Anybody that falls through the cracks, we take care of."

To help, deliver any size turkey or other food items to the Flathead Food Bank at 105 Sixth Ave. W. or call director Lori Botkin at 752-3663. In Whitefish the food pantry's number is 862-5863, in Columbia Falls it's 892-0241, in Lakeside it's 844-2779, and the number for the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry in Evergreen is 756-7304.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com