Feeding the hungry this holiday season

LAKE COUNTY — As the holiday season approaches, many families across Lake County struggle with making ends meet.

Since the first of August, Polson’s Loaves and Fishes operations manager Brian River said the pantry has signed up 82 new households per month.

Serving 2,855 people in the third quarter alone, he estimates with confidence that more than 10,000 clients will receive donations before the end of the year.

“At the end of last year we had served 140,000 pounds of food to about 6,000 people,” River said. “We will be over 140,000 this year.”

As this struggling economy drags on, pantries nationwide are having difficulties providing for the number of people in need, which is still adding up.

“The amount is appreciable,” volunteer and board member Sid Rundell said.

While people are certainly hungry all year long, according to Rundell, donations during the holidays make all the difference.

The majority of the pantry’s operating funds and funds to purchase goods not provided by the government come from the fall match program with the Town Pump. Through Nov. 30, the Town Pump Charitable Foundation will match up to $5,000 donated on behalf of Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry in Polson and $5,000 on behalf of the Bread Basket Food Pantry in Ronan.

“We are very fortunate to live in such a caring community,” he said. “We’re blessed in Polson, the community always seems to be responding.”

In fact, in the last week or so, the pantry received more than 600 pounds of Mack Days fish; Glacier Bank and Country Foods each donated half an animal from the Lake County 4-H Fair this summer; and local butchers have donated wild game that hasn’t been picked up from their shops on several occasions.

“That’s very helpful because the only other source of meat we have is the Montana Food Bank Network,” River said.

For years now, the pantry has received deliveries of excess baked goods and dairy items six days a week.

“The Knights of Columbus pick up items from our local bakeries,” Rundell said. “Prior to that, Bob Strong did it until he quit at 92 years old.”

While he may have stopped making the deliveries, his legend lives on as Strong donated his truck to the pantry in his stead.

With 55 percent of the pantry’s food coming from local supermarkets, 25 percent from the Montana Food Bank Network and 18 percent local donations, it’s clear that in order to feed a community, everyone must be involved. Many local churches and service groups play a major roll in helping the hungry with free weekly lunches, dinners and special holiday events.

“December is wild,” River said. “It will be a big month weight-wise.”

In December, clients receive their normal amount of food as well as an additional amount that is sufficient to have a Christmas dinner, Rundell said. However, there is no additional food given to families for Thanksgiving, and Rundell said the pantry encourages their clients to attend the free dinners offered countywide.

Last year, more than 350 people showed up at the Ronan Community Center for the annual community Thanksgiving day dinner event. It’s now the sixth year for the dinner, which is hosted by the Ronan Community Volunteers and the Ronan Area Chamber of Commerce, and organizer Adina Fox said the need for such an event has increased “drastically” in the last five years.

“The reason for starting it and the whole atmosphere is that sense of community,” she said “We wanted to offer a place for people to come with their families, or by themselves. It’s a place for them to visit, listen to music and be with the community during this holiday.”

Everything served at the dinner is donated and prepared by individuals and local businesses.

As volunteer coordinator, Fox said her phone just rings off the hook.

“I’ve had to turn down a number of people in the last few days,” she said. “Everyone wants to be a part of it, whole families volunteer.”

According to Fox, feeding 350 hungry mouths is a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun. After all, that is what the holidays are all about.