Food pantry gets support boost to help meet demands

A spike in the number of people in need

going to the Bigfork Food Pantry could have been a major concern

for those who run it, but instead the pantry has been overwhelmed

with support and donations from the local community.

Pantry director Sue Stuber said she has

been floored by how many community groups and local businesses have

approached her about ways to give.

“The community has just stepped up to

the plate,” she said. “I’ve had so many calls. The Bigfork

community is our whole backbone, as usual.”

As an example, the pantry received some

larger donations, including one from the relatives of a local man

who is recently deceased that is meant to cover all the meat for

the Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. The pantry is scheduled to

give out about 80 baskets for Thanksgiving next week.

“When I saw the check, it was

unbelievable,” Stuber said. “I went and ordered all we needed.”

All of that is good news, considering

that the demand at the food pantry has doubled from what it was

prior to the recession.

Need really jumped in October through

December last year, and Stuber, based on usual trends, anticipated

that it would go down again in February, but that never happened.

So far, the pantry has given out 40,000 pounds of food in the first

10 months of the year.

“We used to have 20 to 25 clients at a

distribution and now we have 40 clients,” she said.

Clients means those with cards, which

can represent anywhere from a single person up to a family of nine.

In total, the pantry is serving about 120 people regularly. These

trends aren’t specific to Bigfork, which is a branch of the

Flathead Food Bank that also has locations in Evergreen, Marion and

Martin City in addition to the main location in Kalispell. Stuber

said that in talking with other branch food banks, they’ve all seen

a rise in need, particularly at the main location in Kalispell.

The biggest change Stuber has noticed

is the demographics of those she’s serving. The food pantry used to

serve predominantly senior couples, but now there’s a large influx

in the number of young families with small children, she said. In

talking with her clients, she’s discovered that most of those

additions have been due to unemployment.

To help meet the demand, the food

pantry has added on an extra hour to its distribution days, which

are the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. That extends the

hours to 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Even with the out pour of support, the

pantry does have some specific needs. The pantry tends to get in a

fair amount of canned goods, so needs are usually for items like

flour, sugar and rice. Recently, it’s also been low on items like

macaroni and cheese, which didn’t use to be the case. Stuber

attributes it to perhaps the younger family clientele coming to the

pantry as of late.

Another big need is for common hygiene

and toiletry items.

“A lot of people look at us as just a

supplier of food, but we get asked for toilet paper and shampoo all

the time... things a lot of us take for granted,” she said. “If

you’re hungry and you’re going to make your dollar stretch, you’re

definitely going to feed your belly first.”

The Bigfork Food Pantry is anticipating

a big day Friday, as at least two local groups are gathering up

donations.

Bigfork High School kicked of its

annual food drive at the beginning of the week, with final

collections taking place Friday.

Also on Friday, Bee Broadcasting will

be hosting its annual food drive at area grocery stores, including

Harvest Foods. A truck will at the store from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to

collect donations.

Residents can also make donations any

time by calling 837-2297 to arrange a drop off or pick up. Monetary

donations can be mailed to PO Box 850, Bigfork, MT, 59911.