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Missoula Food Bank Volunteers 260 Days a Year
Above photo of Gene and Willadene Donaldson standing behind their daily food pick-up from Costco.
Sometimes we take for granted how food donated to Missoula Food Bank ends up on our store shelves each day. Aside from our own vehicles, we have a group of drivers who for many years have lent their time and vehicles to transport the variety of food that local businesses give to Missoula Food Bank.
Last year, we received 667,000 pounds of prepared and perishable food from donors, products like dairy, bakery, produce, prepared food, meat, and deli. Around half of this total is brought in to the food bank each year by generous and hard-working volunteers like Doug Moran, John Maricelli, Don Schmautz, Lee Spencer, Chuck LeDuc, Michael Kreisberg, and Gene and Willadene Donaldson. The effort and commitment that these individuals freely give to Missoula Food Bank year after year is critical in ensuring that donated food goes to people facing hunger and food insecurity.
In 2007, Gene and Willadene, using their own vehicles, hauled in nearly 250,000 pounds of the total prepared and perishable food donations- one quarter of a million pounds of food! The Donaldsons have volunteered at Missoula Food Bank for the past five years, collecting food donations weekly from Safeway, the Good Food Store, Rosauers, Mission Tortillas, and Costco. Now 76 years old, Gene feels like his service to MFB is engrained in him from a myriad of life experiences. "I was born in the depression era and came from a very poor family, " Gene says. "We were a community that depended on and looked out for each other." This ethic is portrayed in many ways by the Donaldsons, but maybe most visibly in their commitment to picking food for MFB Monday-Friday, every week! The math is not hard- that's 260 days a year.
"As long as I can help, I will," Gene says. With our most heartfelt appreciation, Missoula Food Bank would like to thank the Donaldsons and all of our volunteer drivers for not only bringing donated food to Missoula Food Bank, but for what they bring as caring, hardworking members of this community.
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Starting in January 2007, Missoula Food Bank will distribute weekly updates to interested supporters via email. This is in response to requests from our donors and friends. These communications will include up-to-date statistics about the people we are serving, immediate food needs that we have, upcoming volunteer opportunities, and so on.
If you would like to receive the Hunger Pulse e-newsletters, please send an email to mail@missoulafoodbank.org.
Missoula Farmers Market Joins Clark Fork in Accepting EBT Food Stamp cards
If there is one image that epitomizes summer in Missoula, it has to be the picturesque stalls of the farmer's market overflowing with local produce and Missoula community members, and beginning this July more Missoula residents will be able to access this festive Missoula institution.
This summer folks will once again be able use Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to buy local food. This exciting program came together because of a collaboration of multiple organizations. The Missoula Farmer's Market, the Clark Fork River Market, Missoula Food Bank, The Community Food and Agriculture Coalition (CFAC), Creative Catering, United Way of Missoula County, and Big Sky Commerce all worked together to provide this array of benefits to the Missoula community. It is a win-win situation for everyone!
When shoppers use their EBT cards at farmer's markets, small family farmers receive federal dollars at their stands. Additionally low-income shoppers have access to fresh local produce, and our local economy benefits as the multiplier effect shows that EBT dollars spent at least double in circulation.
At the Missoula Farmer's Market, EBT card holders will bring their cards to the CFAC table near the white United Way Building, next to the west entrance of the market. Here the cards will be electronically swiped and the shopper will receive their chosen amount of dollars in tokens, which can then be exchanged at the stalls of participating vendors.
The Clark Fork River Market is in its third season offering this program. This summer, both markets have added the benefit of credit and debit cards. People can receive market tokens from credit, debit or EBT cards.
The use of EBT cards at farmer's markets is part of a nation-wide trend. The EBT card program is part of a group of programs initiated by the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition (CFAC) and Missoula Food Bank, which aim to reform the local food system so that all community members have access to healthy local foods.
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Volunteers Needed
Volunteers provide the Food Bank with over 10,000 hours of their time, energy and talents every year. And they do just about everything there is to be done, from sorting food and stocking shelves to processing prepared food and interviewing clients. Learn more...
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