KALISPELL — The Flathead Food Bank in Kalispell will reopen for in-store shopping July 12, after transitioning to curbside delivery for the last 15 months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It has been so exciting for us to just be able to go yay, we’re going back in-person!” Flathead Food Bank Director Jamie Quinn tells MTN News.
This comes 15 months after the food bank transitioned to curbside delivery only during the pandemic.
“But now we’re actually going to go back to where people can come through and pick up items they want, be able to choose whether they want just the corn or the mixed vegetable or the roasted red pepper or the campbells, they get to make those decisions now for themselves as opposed to us just kind of deciding what they want,” said Quinn.
Quinn saw an uptick in service during the pandemic, distributing just short of 3.5 million pounds of food in 2020, more than double the distribution amount of an average year.
“It’s one of those things that if it was not for our staff and our volunteers and just the community at large, we would have never made it through this year, so we’re so blessed and grateful for the Flathead Valley,” said Quinn.
Quinn added the in-person pantry will make life a little easier for the more than 700 volunteers at the Flathead Food Bank.
“They have spent multiple hours outside in all kinds of weather, so we’re really excited to be able to go back and serve our customers in a way that they can just come in and shop and we get to be inside where there’s a little less weather element,” said Quinn.
The shopping hours will begin Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. and on Thursday from 1 p.m. until 5:45 p.m.
Those wondering if they qualify for food bank services are encouraged to call the Flathead Food Bank Office at (406) 752-3663.
