Bigfork Food Bank sees uptick in use this year, wants to reach even more people

Bigfork Food Bank Executive Director Kathy Kaestner said she lies awake at night and thinks of the different ways they can reach all of the people in the community who need their services.

“We're actually looking at the hours right now, we might extend them a little bit just because we've been getting so many more people,” Kaestener said. “Oh my gosh, the last few months with the economy, people can't afford food or gas, and we're just seeing a lot more new clients coming in,”

The organization feeds 300 families a month, but Kaestner said she’s never afraid of running out of food. The generosity in the community knows no bounds, she says, and when they are short on something— like stuffing around Thanksgiving— she is not surprised to see that someone had thought of that too, leaving ample amounts of just what they need without ever asking.

“Like, what God did you hear us or something? Because this feels like ‘ask and you shall receive’ and that happens all the time,” Kaestner said. “It's the best thing and it just makes me smile because I walk in here, and there will be all this food that was left in the blue bin, and it's exactly what we need,”

She said they’ve been seeing some extra holiday generosity, too. Donations from local businesses like Corwin Motors in Kalispell, coupled with individual gifts from people really help bolster their funds to buy not only food, but other equipment they need to run the food bank.

“This community is so awesome. We will find a way to feed them all, if they need us. We want them here,” Kaestner said. “Even if the drop-off box has already been checked, I'll get here, not check it, and later find it full. People just go grocery shopping and they drop stuff by here. I don't even know who they are, they’re just like good fairies.”

The food bank came into possession of their current building after it was donated to them in 2015. They are able to offer a large grocery store-like space with shelves full of canned goods, dry goods and lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy. Patrons can browse and shop for themselves and their families like they would at a regular store, volunteers weigh the food as they leave and nothing is owed.

Kaestner said on Monday, the food bank feels like a beehive. Volunteers are busy processing donations and getting the store ready for Tuesday, their ‘grocery shopping day’ where patrons come to get what they need.

“We'll probably have six or eight volunteers in the grocery store, helping people weigh out. We get some elderly people who are really frail and they can't even hardly shop. So, we'll have a volunteer go with them and help them and stuff like that,” Kaestner said.

She said on Wednesday, they take stock and see what’s left, so as to not waste anything. She said they spend time revamping the store and taking leftover vegetables to the wildlife refuge. Also part of providing snacks for local schools, there is no shortage of things to take care of.

Kaestner said her job as executive director involves dealing with the public and coordinating their 50 volunteers. A volunteer herself, Kaestner said she learned a lot from long-time Bigfork Food Bank veteran Ann Tucker when she started in the position at the beginning of 2022. She said their operation was “already running beautifully” but just needed a little more organization from a leadership standpoint.

“Once I got that set up, it's amazing what a good job everybody does, it really is. Especially considering they don't have to, they're all volunteers, including me, but it gets in your blood and you just want this thing to work … the community is amazing, just how much they support this because we don't take any government funding, Bigfork supports this food bank,” Kaestner said.

Community support also allowed them to recently purchase a walk-in cooler needed to store much of the refrigerated items that had previously been stored in several grocery store coolers, which are not meant to be used as storage and frequently break. Kaestner said it took three years to raise the money needed to purchase it, always debating whether or not they should go ahead and use the money to purchase other necessities. But, it was costly to use the system they already had.

“We've got these other coolers. But they keep breaking, I mean that one's broken right now. It’s like every week a different one breaks. They're being used for food storage, which they're not meant for— they're meant for when you go to the grocery store and pull out your milk. But we had it packed full of stuff, because that was all we had— and that breaks them because the air doesn't circulate ... So anyway, there was a lot of debate, but finally, we realized ‘yes, we do need it’ because we're just growing. And every time we have to get a cooler fixed it costs us,” Kaestner said.

The next project they are eyeing is a refrigerated van, she said. On Fridays, they participate in “grocery rescue” with local grocery stores, where they donate food that has gone past its sell-by date. This doesn’t mean the food is bad, but it would otherwise be thrown away. Kaestner said they use this program with Rosauers and Costco, but they have strict rules about how to transport the food. Costco requires it to be transported in a refrigerated van, so Bigfork Food Bank partners with the Lakeside Food Bank to get their grocery rescue delivered. After Lakeside takes what they need, Bigfork gets the rest.

“The big thing right now is the van. We want to be able to purchase a refrigerated van because it'll just allow us to go to any grocery store and get meat and things that they can give us … So financial donations right now are probably as important as the food donations,” Kaestner said.

Kaestner said she’s recently prepared a brochure about services at the food bank to give out to students at nearby schools. It has information about who is eligible to shop at the food bank, what their hours are and frequently asked questions. She said she created it because she knows they are not reaching as many people as they could be.

“When I talk to the teachers at the schools, they know which kids are food insecure. And they don't come here and it breaks my heart because I'm like, ‘Why? Why? Why are their parents not coming?’ Here, look at this, they can shop, and there's no judgment, we're just here for them,” Kaestner said.

Generally, the Bigfork Food Bank is open the first and third Tuesdays of the month from 4 to 6 p.m., and the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The food bank is closed on the fifth Tuesdays. Special schedules serve holiday clients in November and December. For details about operations and how to donate, check out their website bigforkfoodbank.org.