Don K and Subaru donate $12,000 to the C-Falls backpack program

Don K and Subaru recently presented over $12,000 to the Columbia Falls chapter of the Backpack Assistance Program.

The Columbia Falls program is led by Gretchen Boyer and is staffed by board members and volunteers. The charity operates under the umbrella of Farm Hands Nourish the Flathead. For two years the backpack program has offered a reliable source of food on weekends and during vacations for at-risk children. Farm Hands also helps regularly stock the Columbia Falls high school and junior high pantries.

The organization is stepping up its efforts to help feed the students of Columbia Falls high school and junior high while schools are closed to help stop the spread of COVID-19, expanding to serve any family in need of weekend food. They have anticipated doubling weekly bags, expecting to fill 600 bags a week.

The Farm Hands staff and volunteers are working with Columbia Falls food services to make sure that the bagged lunches and breakfasts get on buses for Friday distribution each week. Bags are distributed according to the number of children per family.

Food bags will also be handed out from the facility on Fridays from 11 a.m. to noon. The Farm Hands pantry is located in the previous Alternative High School space at the north end of the Glacier Gateway Campus at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Third Street.

Everyone involved is emphasizing sanitary conditions, with all staff and volunteers wearing masks and gloves while bagging. Bags are only passed out after sitting with no contact for five days.

They are asking that anyone coming to the facility text 406-261-5569 when they arrive and let them know the number of children in the family and color of the car and they will bring bags out to the car. Those who don’t have a phone to text with may knock on the door. They ask that no one enter the facility.

The Columbia Falls Backpack Assistance Program was chosen by the employees at the Don K dealership as the 2018 hometown charity beneficiary for the Subaru Share the Love event.

Don Kaltschmidt, owner and dealer of Don K Subaru said, “Our commitment to our local community stems from the fact that we live here, raise our own families here and, being locally owned, we care deeply about the health and success of the many communities we serve here in the Flathead.”