Valentine’s Day will come a little early for the North Valley Food Bank, which is hosting a ‘pay-what-you-can’ meal event to showcase a pilot program aimed at supporting burgeoning small business entrepreneurs.
Participants in the food bank’s incubator kitchen program created the menu and will be cooking hot, to-go meals for Thursday’s event, which also includes an opportunity for community members to ask staff questions and tour the facility at 251 Flathead Ave. in Whitefish.
Entrees include a bolognese with a side of house-made focaccia, beet burgers with a root veggie salad, and a creamy pork and white bean dish, along with red velvet or carrot cake for dessert. This is a ‘pay-what-you-can meal’ with a suggested price of $25.
“Everybody deserves a spot at the table,” said Rachael Broom, the food bank’s culinary arts manager. “Some people are able to pay $3 for their meal and some just a smile. And some people are able to pay it forward and pay for somebody else’s meal.
“That’s really bringing everybody together, and knowing, if you’re paying it forward, you’re helping pay for somebody else’s meal, who might be trying to feed some kids at home.”
Broom is the organizer of the food bank’s new incubator kitchen program, which has focused on preparing budding small business owners looking to break into various segments of the food industry.
When the food bank installed a commercial kitchen a few years ago, Broom saw potential beyond its primary use of processing its big batches of fruits and vegetables, she said. Broom attended a shared kitchen summit in New Orleans two years ago, hoping to find another way to use the kitchen to benefit the community.
“The biggest thing I learned is … it’s one-third kitchen and two-thirds storage,” Broom said. “Small businesses would need to store all of their ingredients plus their product here and we just don’t have the storage.”
While the food bank doesn’t yet have the space needed for a robust shared kitchen program, Broom realized it can still foster an incubator kitchen program, which gives small businesses access to commercial kitchen space.
“The idea is you’re helping pool resources or helping get classes for people who are just starting out with their small business and helping them grow,” Broom said. “How do you write a business plan? How do you get licensing? What does insurance mean? How does that work? So all the little pieces and parts.”
The incubator kitchen program, which began in November, has facilitated a variety of presentations, with topics ranging from insurance to marketing to funding. Local business owners and a private chef also shared their expertise and experience with program participants, Broom said.
“They’re all at different places and they’re all doing different things, but the overarching theme from all of the presenters, and then the participants really got into it too, was that they’re not in competition with each other,” Broom said. “We’re trying to build community around all of these small businesses.”
About 15 community members participated in the program throughout the presentations, with 10 program participants having a hand in this week’s pop-up event, Broom said. Some participants are on the cusp of writing a business plan while others are wading into new waters after a career switch.
“Some want to offer things at the farmers market to start, and then some want a food truck,” Broom said. “There’s a wide range. Some of them are actually trying to do manufacturing and create a product rather than a meal.”
While Thursday’s Valentine’s Day event serves as an unofficial graduation of the first cohort of pilot incubator kitchen program participants, Broom hopes the program will make a return.
“The goal is to keep in contact; if they need more resources; if they all want to keep chatting with each other because they’re all now friends,” Broom said. “How can we keep supporting? We won’t necessarily continue to have presenters, but we’ll still support and then with the next round, hopefully we can do this again.”
The North Valley Food Bank is also hosting its sixth-annual “Feed Love” food drive and fundraiser through the remainder of the month.
The food drive and fundraiser will run for a full month this year to meet the unprecedented need for food assistance in our communities, the food bank said in a press release.
In 2025, the food bank enrolled 962 new families in their programs. The food bank also recorded more than 27,000 pantry visits, a 26% increase from the previous year and the highest number in the organization’s history, according to the press release.
The food bank will be collecting non-perishable comfort food focused on soups, stews, pasta, nut butters, cornbread mix and baking supplies, in addition to donations of essential diapers and hygiene products such as soaps, pads and tampons.
Food donations can be dropped off at the following locations across Whitefish during their normal business hours:
- Safeway
- Super 1 Foods
- Third Street Market
- Marcus Community Market
- North Valley Food Bank — convenient 24/7 donation drop box
The food bank is also teaming up with several restaurants, bars and coffee shops across Whitefish throughout February, with $1 of every Feed Love Special purchase supporting the North Valley Food Bank:
- Jersey Boys, Italian Sub
- Latitude 48, Wagyu Burger
- Bulldog Saloon, Cheeseburger
- Craggy Range, Smash Burger
- Ciao Mambo, Pasta Pascucci
- Fleur Bake Shop, Sourdough Loaves
- Buffalo Café, a percentage of sales
- Bonsai Brewing Project, every food menu item
- The Lodge at Whitefish Lake, Dessert Special
- The Farmers Stand, Round up your purchase at checkout
- MacKenzie River Pizza, Willow Creek Sandwich
- Sweet Peaks Ice Cream, Chocolate Love Pints
- Folklore Coffee, Salted Brown Sugar Maple Latte
- Logan Health Whitefish, Daily Market Special
- Spotted Bear Spirits, Huckleberry Espresso Martini
- Beldi, $1 from every Hummus and $3 from every wine
- Herb & Omni, Every guest who dines in the dining room
- Haskill Creek Wellness Bar, Cherry in Love Smoothie