Food Bank opens new center

Things were a little more hectic than normal as volunteers filled grocery bags two hours before North Valley Food Bank opened the doors to its new facility in Whitefish on Thursday.

The 4,748-square-foot distribution center off Baker Avenue is still a work in progress. A spacious kitchen where food preparation classes one day will be taught needs to be finished, and boxes of paperwork await new drawers and shelves in the administrative office.

But Food Bank Director June Munski-Feenan and her crew didn’t miss a beat in doling out groceries to some 150 needy families. Volunteers completed their massive Thanksgiving basket distribution at the old food bank — passing out food supplies to 197 families and making 37 home deliveries — then focused on the move to the new center.

As usual, Munski-Feenan was going a hundred miles an hour during crunch time on Thursday, overseeing the entire operation. Outdoor heaters designed to warm clients standing in line weren’t ready to go, so she gathered chairs for folks to sit inside as they waited their turn.

“We’re not going to let them stand in the cold,” she said.

The new facility has taken shape over the past year. The independent food bank had long outgrown the 80-year-old house on East First Street where food had been handed out the past 26 years.

Two years ago the food bank paid cash for a lot on Flathead Avenue in Baker Commons near The Wave fitness center, using money it had tucked away through the years. Then the organization raised $1.5 million to pay roughly $700,000 for the building and put the rest away in an endowment fund for future needs.

Construction on the new building began in April. In July Whitefish philanthropist Mike Goguen chipped in $500,000 to complete the capital campaign.

The new center offers several new and upgraded features such as an enlarged meat processing center, commercial meat grinder, covered outdoor waiting area, more freezer and cooler capacity and storage for buying food by the pallet rather than by the pound.

There’s plenty of room for parking, too, something the old food bank couldn’t offer.

More than 10 tons of food are distributed in any given month. In October the food bank took in 20,193 pounds of food and handed out 22,307 pounds.

Annually, the food bank distributes around 350,000 pounds of food, largely to the greater North Valley area.

Even though the Christmas season typically brings in extra nonperishable food, there’s a continuous need for fresh fruits and vegetables and milk and other dairy products, Munski-Feenan said.

North Valley Food Bank is the only food bank in the state that processes wild game. As Munski-Feenan poked her head in the meat cooler, she pointed out deer carcasses ready to be processed, along with a couple of sides of beef.

Her involvement with feeding the hungry predates the existing food bank building by several years. In the late 1970s, with no storage space for contributions, she stacked more than 100 loaves of bread under her Christmas tree to feed the hungry over the holidays, and a snow bank in her backyard became a makeshift cooler for jugs of milk.

Munski-Feenan’s networking ability is unparalleled among her nonprofit peers, and once she sets her mind to something, it normally gets done.

A core group of about 30 volunteers keeps the place running, with another 40 volunteers in the wings as needed. Right now, Munski-Feenan said she’s in the hunt for a couple of volunteer office assistants to help with the paperwork.

Anyone wanting to volunteer may call 862-5863.

The food bank distributes food from noon to 2 p.m. each Thursday; call 862-5863 for further assistance.

Donations can be mailed to North Valley Food Bank at 251 Flathead Ave., Whitefish, MT 59937. Food donations may be dropped off at the food bank on Flathead Avenue behind Park Side Federal Credit Union.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.