Page 25 - Flathead Beacon // 11.23.16

NEWS
Food Banks Seeking Donations for Holiday Season
Di erent organizations have di erent needs, but all say they are serving more people than last year
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BY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
A growing population in the Flathead Valley needs support from food banks. Here’s a breakdown of the needs of the area’s individual food banks.
FLATHEAD FOOD BANK – KALISPELL
Location: 1203 U.S. Highway 2, Kalispell, 59901 Contact: 406-752-3663
Website: www. atheadfoodbank.com
The Flathead Food Bank served 1,400 full turkey dinners to families this year, said executive director Lori Botkin, up 200 families from last year.
The food bank expects to serve at least as many dinners as last year — 658 — and is planning for more. It’s looking for tur- keys and hams for Christmas dinner, but also the following canned items: vegetables, soups, meats, tuna, and chili.
Money is also appreciated, because the food bank has buying power that a private individual likely does not, she said.
Other necessities, like toiletries and dog food, are also always needed. Botkin said people with soap or shampoo they don’t like can send the remnants to the food bank.
Otherwise, imagine what you’d normally need to cook a Thanksgiving dinner and drop it o .
“It’s the basics,” Botkin said. “People always ask for ... the foil turkey trays to cook the turkey in. That’s something we never have.”
NORTH VALLEY FOOD BANK – WHITEFISH
Location: 251 Flathead Ave., 59937 Contact: 406-862-5863
Website: www.northvalleyfoodbank.org
“We’re thinking Christmas,” SueAnn Grogan King, execu- tive director at North Valley Food Bank, said.
Grogan King said the food bank broke records when they served 130 households the week of Nov. 14.
“We were serving just under 100 through October and earlier this season,” she said.
The food bank expected to send out Thanksgiving boxes to 200 households, she said. For Christmas, they’re running a drive to collect socks, hats, and mittens.
The North Valley Food Bank particularly needs mandarin oranges, Grogan King said, because the kids love them and they’re an easy fruit to peel.
Otherwise, the food bank is always accepting food and toi- letry donations, she said.
WEST SHORE FOOD BANK – LAKESIDE
Location: 140 Bills Rd., 59922
Contact: 406-844-2779 Website:www.facebook.com/WestShoreFoodBank
“We need turkeys something erce,” Leslie Knuth, director at the food bank, said. “We’ve never been short on turkeys and we’re short this year.”
West Shore Food Bank expects to send out at least 100 70-pound boxes full of all the xings needed for a Thanksgiv- ing meal this year. That’s a 27 percent increase over last year, Knuth said. Donations of turkeys, fresh vegetables, and dress- ings are on the top of the list.
And for Christmas, the food bank sends out ham dinners, so hams are also appreciated.
Christmas is also the time when the food bank gives out toi- letries, so those donations are also always welcome. Monetary donations can be sent to P.O. Box 192, Lakeside, 59922.
A worker organizes donated food at the Flathead Food Bank. BEACON FILE PHOTO
The Kalispell Lions Club is once again holding its ra e drawings for Dream Vacations, with the net proceeds divided between the local food banks, eyeglasses purchases, and the Kalispell Regional Healthcare Foundation diabetes fund.
Last year, the ra e led to $7,000 donated to area food banks.
Ra e participants have the chance to win up to six dream vacations, many of them weeklong adventures out of state. One ticket could win six times, and only 300 tickets will be sold. Tickets are available at www. lionsdreamvacation.org or by calling 406-871-4176.
The drawings for the 2017 vacation ra e will begin in December.
NORTHWEST MONTANA VETERANS FOOD PANTRY – EVERGREEN
Location: 1349 U.S. Highway 2 E., 59901 Contact: 406-756-7304
Website: www.veteransfoodpantry.org
The Veteran’s Food Pantry does NOT need turkeys, said executive director Allen Erickson.
“The lord really blessed us good,” he said, noting that their turkey needs are ful lled.
Erickson said they need the “fun things” for the holiday meals, such as hot chocolate, yams, marshmallows, and other treats.
The pantry could also use any and all toiletries, especially travel-sized items, such as deodorants, shampoos, and soaps.
Erickson expects to serve 140 families for Thanksgiving, with 150 families already signed up for Christmas. Families can register for Christmas dinners until Dec. 15.
BIGFORK FOOD BANK – BIGFORK
Location: 7535 MT Highway 35, 59911 Contact: 406-837-2297
Website: www.bigforkfoodbank.org
The food bank prepared Thanksgiving boxes for about 100 fam- ilies, equaling roughly 260 individuals, director Ann Tucker said. The meals included pumpkin pies made from scratch by Flathead High School Culinary Arts students, who gutted the
gourds and turned them into pies.
Other than turkey and ham, speci c needs at the Bigfork
Food Bank include fresh fruit and vegetables, jelly, juice, pea- nut butter, canned fruit and canned olives, canned ravioli and meals like mac and cheese, and toilet paper.
molly@ atheadbeacon.com
NOVEMBER 23, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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