Flathead Food Bank scheduled to get refrigerated truck

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead Food Bank is one of seven food service organizations scheduled to receive a refrigerator box truck today.

Lori Botkin, director of the Flathead Food Bank, said the effort to obtain the refrigerated trucks started about two years ago. Flathead Food Bank worked in collaboration with six organizations to obtain grant money for the seven new trucks.

The Missoula Food Bank received $370,470 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation to purchase the trucks.

According to Botkin, the truck overcomes an obstacle that kept grocery stores from donating cold or frozen items to the food bank. Health regulations require that a refrigerated truck move such items even just a few miles from the stores to the food bank.

"I hope to start a whole bunch of new programs," she said. "This is really going to be cool."

As an example, she said the food bank might pick up food left over from a buffet at a restaurant for redistribution. The truck also may help the food bank with a chronic milk shortage by providing a legal way to receive milk donations from grocery stores.

"I spend $500 a week now on milk," she said.

Except for the last two weeks, Botkin said, the food bank has had to limit milk distribution to families with children.

The truck gift couldn't come at a better time, since food bank use has reached record levels in recent months. Botkin called the crescendo of calls incredible.

"We used to have two calls a week from people who said, 'I've never used the food bank before,'" she said. "Now we're getting four or five calls a day."

Demand began building in August with the Kalispell pantry distributing food to 185 people the first week and 305 the next.

"And it hasn't slowed down," she said.

The week of Thanksgiving set a record when food bank volunteers distributed bags to 178 people one day and 190 on the second pantry day.

According to Botkin, some volunteers have been profoundly moved by so many people facing dire economic straits. She recounted how one woman came to her office recently.

"She was in tears," Botkin recalled. "She said, 'These people are losing their homes, they have no hope. Their families are hungry and there are no jobs.'"

But on a positive note, Botkin said the community response to the growing need has been incredible. She said she has received some of the largest single donations - $10,000 to $15,000 - in the last six months.

"The more we get into this, the people who are able to share open their pockets and their cupboards," she said.

The Flathead Food Bank passes out food at five pantry locations: the main building in Kalispell at 105 Sixth Ave. West, in Bigfork at Montana 35 South and Village Lane, in Evergreen at the Calvary Lutheran Church, in Marion at the Marion Fire Department Auxiliary Building and in Martin City at the Canyon Head Start building.

Days and times vary so people should call 752-3663 for help or check the organization's Web site, www.flatheadfoodbank.com, for current information.

According to the organization's statistics, the typical food bank client is not the stereotype of a transient. The last four years have seen an increase in working families who don't earn enough to make ends meet.

A little more than 10 percent of the clients are senior citizens and 39 percent are children. To qualify for the commodity supplemental food program, a family must make no more than 150 percent of the poverty index or $31,800 for a family of four in 2008.

Clients are limited to 12 visits a year in Kalispell and 24 visits a year in satellite pantries due to the limited resources in those towns.

To keep these sites open, Botkin said the food bank always needs volunteers to help stock shelves with food, prepare food bags, clean, organize, interview clients and help at food drives. She said seniors make up a healthy share of volunteers including quite a few in their 70s.

In 2008 compared to 2007, the food bank staff and volunteers served 490 more families and 846 more people. They gave out 958 more food boxes during 2008 from food supplies that were down 90,242 pounds from the previous year.

Their shortage came not from local grocery store and individual donations of food but in government commodities.

"From January to November, we received very little," Botkin said.

As the food bank's needs continue to grow, the director said the organization needs a larger building and more contributions of time and money as well as food.

"All of us have cupboards full of things we never use," Botkin said. "We'll give it to people who can use it."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.