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Bigfork Food Bank moves in to new building

by Sally Finneran Bigfork Eagle
| September 30, 2015 2:00 AM

Shelves now sit in on large open floors in the Bigfork Food Bank, stocked with food, ready to be sent off to homes around Bigfork.

The Bigfork Food Bank moved into their new building recently, and did their first distribution from the new space on Tuesday.

Though fundraising for the new building isn’t over, with the building complete, Food Bank Director Ann Tucker and food bank volunteers are able to focus on the heart of the food bank’s mission — helping the hungry.

“We’re here to help hungry people,” Tucker said. “You don’t always know someone is hungry by looking at them.”

The new building will enable the food bank to further help their clientele, providing more storage space for food, and a bright, large space.

Despite having upgraded in space size about five years ago, the food bank had been bursting at the seams. The food bank distributes over 4,000 pounds of food every month, and its clientele keeps growing, serving almost double the number of families it did five years ago. In 2014 the Bigfork Food Bank distributed over 67,000 pounds of food to 110 households.

One of the biggest struggles for the food bank in their old space was a lack of freezer space, which forced them to turn away donations of food.

The Bigfork Community Development Foundation Trust donated a walk-in freezer to the food bank, as well as large refrigerators.

“The walk-in freezer lets us get more frozen goods,” Tucker said. It has already allowed them to accept donations that they previously would have had to turn down. For example, when the fire camps in the area broke up, the remaining food was donated to the food bank. 

Tucker said they have also had restaurants interested in doing food rescues with the food bank. Food rescues are where a restaurant has leftovers of a pre-prepared item, such as soup, that they can’t sell again the next day, but is still good. The food bank would take in the food and store it in the freezer.

“We’re able to accept more food that people donate,” Tucker said.

The new building itself is about three times the size of the food banks old space.

“We’ve got room to grow,” Tucker said. “I think it’s going to meet our needs for years to come.”

The layout of the new building is also improved, with a large storage and workspace for volunteers. The floors are easier to clean, there’s ample counter space and a triple sink makes repackaging bulk food easier, and makes it easier for the food bank to adhere to health code standards.

The Food Bank has been overwhelmed with the community’s generosity since they embarked on the project of improving their facilities. The land for the new facility came from an anonymous donor in January. The S. Kent Rockwell foundation donated tile flooring. An anonymous donor decided to donate firewood, which will be free to pantry clients this winter, and also donated a shed to store the wood.

There are a few fundraisers coming up for the pantry as the work to finish paying off the building. There will be a garage sale at the pantry on Oct. 2-3. 

Showthyme restaurant will also be open for lunch on four Mondays in November and December, with proceeds going to the Food Bank.

The food bank will be having an open house in October, the date and time is still to be determined.

Any donations can be sent to the Bigfork Food Bank Fundraising Account, P.O. Box 850, Bigfork MT 59911. For information or to tour the new facility call Tucker at 837-3179 or 250-4546.