Couple devotes time to assisting veterans

Allen and Linda Erickson recognized a need in the Flathead Valley over 20 years ago and have since acted to fill it. That need was care and support for veterans.

The Ericksons, the founders of the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry, have been in the valley for 45 years. Married since 1977, the pair has worked for decades to expand veteran care in the valley.

As much as they don’t like to admit it, Allen said, veterans sure can use some help.

"It's not just now and then, it's actually quite often," Allen said, regarding the help veterans need.

Allen himself is a U.S. Navy veteran who served from 1957 to 1963. He is a cancer survivor, which was connected to Agent Orange exposure during his service. To get medical treatment the closest Veterans Affairs facility to Kalispell is in Spokane, Washington — a routine trip for many Northwest Montana veterans including Allen.

In 1999, a man from the Spokane hospital told Allen to put on a Stand Down in Libby. At the time, Allen had no idea what that was.

A Military Veteran Stand Down is typically a one- to three-day event that provides supplies and services to homeless veterans, including food, shelter, clothing, health screenings and VA Social Security benefits counseling. The name comes from the Vietnam War, when soldiers would Stand Down and rest, eat and receive medical care in a safe environment.

"Lo and behold everyone in Libby thought I was nuts because there aren't that many people in Northwest Montana as it is," Allen said. "Anyway, we had over 1,500 people the first year."

"In only two days," his wife Linda added.

A need was identified and veterans helping veterans appeared to be the answer.

Nearly 25 years later, the pair continue their yearly Stand Down — one of the largest in the country — along with leading the organization that runs a food pantry and thrift store, loans medical supplies out and provides hygienic care for homeless veterans. A new piece of the assistance is a lease on an 80-acre campground in Bigfork known as Camp Ponderosa, which is also intended to serve veterans.

While the Ericksons officially retired March 1, they are not practicing a traditional retirement.

"I retired and haven't had a day off since," Allen joked.

In all seriousness, the couple is simply "stepping back" from their administrative roles to ideally give them more free time. Allen, 83, and Linda, 72, plan to travel to Mount Rushmore and road trip across the states.

"But this is fun, this isn’t work," Allen said. "It's very enjoyable and I get to meet some of the greatest people in the world, veterans."

Andy Kirk, a veteran and former board member for the pantry, said that Allen and Linda are probably the most passionate people he’s ever met when it comes to veterans in need. According to Kirk, Allen would give someone the shirt off of his back, which he adds may very well have happened on occasion over the years.

“What they’ve done is great,” Kirk said. “How they’ve served thousands of local veterans.”

FOLLOWING THAT first Stand Down, both Allen and Linda knew that veteran care was something they would continue in the Flathead Valley.

Allen kept a semi-truck of clothing in this driveway, giving out items to veterans as needed. A man from Polson drove up to Erickson's house in Evergreen and gave him dozens of bags of potatoes, which Allen also distributed to those in need.

When the clothes and potatoes ran out, Allen questioned what to do next. At the time, there were extremely limited care options for veterans in the valley, the Ericksons said.

"Well, you know, we might as well do something year round," he said.

The pair found several buildings available for rent in 2002 and they launched their food pantry in the Quonset huts across the street from the Rainbow Bar and Casino. The pantry was open two days a week.

"The biggest thing was convincing the community why veterans needed a food pantry. We had to do a lot of advocacy for them," Linda said. "Veterans normally aren't going to utilize the other programs because they don't feel they should have to ask for charity. But veterans helping veterans is different."

Many who frequent the food pantry or the Erickson's house call Linda the drill sergeant of the whole operation. While she never served in the military, she said that everything she has learned she owes to veterans.

"We are helping them break the barriers down from the people who can help and the people who need help by camaraderie," she said.

That idea is the backbone behind the Stand Downs.

In 2003, the food pantry opened five days a week. They were the first organization in Montana to receive the Department of Veterans Grant and Per Diem Grant for Homeless Veterans.

By 2010 the pair was running out of space. That year, a new building, the same building the pantry operates out of today, was purchased and given to them by a commander in the Navy. Allen has kept that person's identity anonymous per their request.

From there, they built the food pantry out, established a medical equipment rental program and expanded services to assist not only veterans, but the public in need as well.

The most recent advancement for the Ericksons’ mission to care for veterans is a 30-year lease between them and the Montana Department of Natural Resources for 60 acres of campground. Camp Ponderosa, as they call it, is planned to be a retreat learning center for veterans and their families. The area also features a big campground for public citizens to use, the funds of which go back into the nonprofit.

Allen looks forward to a potential June 1 soft opening at the camp.

"It has grown into this huge program that is a community involvement effort," Allen said.

Now beginning their retirement, Allen and Linda are training employees to run the operation. And looking for their successors, who will be essential in maintaining the original mission, Allen said.

"Hopefully whoever takes this over enhances it to grow to continue helping the community," Allen said. "We just want to help people."

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.