Offering help for the hungry

Janyce Von Lindern of Columbia Falls believes that a person’s character and deeds are what count in life.

“Volunteering is very important to me — not material things,” Von Lindern said. “You get out of life what you put in.”

At 72, Von Lindern has volunteered for 27 years delivering food to people in need. For the past six years she has been director of Columbia Falls Food Bank.

It was 27 years ago that her mother made a suggestion that would alter her daily routine.

“I was caring for my mother who was sick at the time. Mom said I needed a diversion,” Von Lindern said.

Her friend, Sylvia Hatten, encouraged her to help deliver food to the needy at a time before Columbia Falls Food Bank was established. She continues to volunteer alongside Hatten.

“I guess it’s what I’m meant to do in life,” Von Lindern said. “I’m just not ready to retire. I love what I’m doing.”

Von Lindern was the youngest of five siblings. Her father died when she was just 2. It was World War II and Von Lindern watched her mother struggle to keep food on the table, work and raise the children. She also watched her godmother always helping others, whether it was her mother or neighbors.

“So it’s something I believe in. I felt I wanted to help other people struggling to put food on the table,” she said. “A family with tears in their eyes because of the food they’re given to put on their table — that’s what it’s all about.”

Columbia Falls Food Bank is orderly and spacious these days, but this wasn’t always the case. Until a 24-by-55-foot warehouse was completed in October, crates and pallets of food were stacked floor to ceiling in the main building and one wrong move could topple it all.

“It was a safety hazard. Imagine all the cases of peas, carrots, everything in here,” Von Lindern said, pointing to crates in the warehouse, “stacked in here,” she said, pointing back inside the main building. “It was difficult just to move around.”

Von Lindern estimates the warehouse cost $138,000 and was built with donations.

“The community is awesome when we need something done,” she said.

There is plenty of room in the warehouse to store food and park a van. One area is marked off for the food bank to install an additional walk-in cooler. The food bank currently has a walk-in cooler and freezer.

Construction of the warehouse was completed just in time for assembling 160 Thanksgiving baskets. The food bank serves between 65 to 70 people weekly and about 15 to 20 pounds of food per person.

“A lot of people are working but are either low-income or working part-time,” Von Lindern said.

The holiday season is the busiest part of the year. As soon as Thanksgiving wraps up, Christmas food basket sign-ups begin.

Located at 82 Railroad St. E., which Von Lindern said is finally a permanent site for the food bank. The food bank moved into the Railroad Street building that was constructed and donated to the organization in 2006. Prior to that, it had moved around every few years.

When not volunteering, Von Lindern enjoys being outside, playing golf, putting jigsaw puzzles together and being with family. Her family includes her husband John, four children, 11 granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.