POLSON — The new 3,840 square foot Loaves and Fishes food pantry doesn’t look like it’s predecessor.

Instead, it looks like a grocery store, complete with shopping carts, aisles of food and a donated cooler filled with eggs. With the amount of people in need of assistance in the Polson area, attendees at the official open house for the pantry last Wednesday proved that such an upgrade really is a community effort.

“The pantry has never really been settled until right now, and look what we have,” Bob Strong, a Loaves and Fishes board member, said as he described the different buildings that have housed the panty over the years during the June 16 open house. “This is a beautiful place for it and I think it will be here now and forever.”

The move has been a long time coming.

The pantry had long outgrown the dilapidated, 1,100 square foot building it previously occupied, a facility that clearly couldn’t handle the amount of food and patrons that crowded it during its two days of operation. In July, the new building will add a third day of business, Saturday, in addition to Tuesdays and Fridays.

In the first quarter of 2010, the need for more open hours is obvious, as the pantry has already served 290 families, according to board president Sid Rundell. An office space allows the volunteers to discuss financial situations with customers in privacy, a convenience not available at the old building.

“I would say over the last three of four years, we’ve had a 25 to 30 percent increase each year,” he said. “We put out more than 100,000 pounds of food last year.”

The increase can certainly be attributed to the struggling economy, a situation that makes the new building all the more special. Despite lagging sales and hard times, local businesses and community members found a way to donate time, materials, services and food to get the facility built and stocked.

“The thing that’s so amazing about it is the community outpouring for it,” Rundell said. “There was no bag of money, just lots of smaller help and donations from multiple sources.”

One such source was the USDA Rural Development Program. Lad Barney, a USDA representative from their Kalispell office, attended the opening to give the pantry a plaque commemorating the event and the $20,000 grant the board received. The board came up with $16,500 to match the grant, and was able to buy a forklift and large freezer for the facility. While Barney sees many community efforts in his profession, he said the Loaves and Fishes project was one of the more special.

“The reason we exist is to help small communities with essential facilities,” Barney said, “and this is an essential facility like none other. The impact will be long-lasting.”

The volunteers who put it all together especially impressed Barney.

“I have the pleasure of working with community members like yourselves who work tirelessly,” he said.

The organization is totally volunteer-based and nearly 75 percent of the 13-member board contributes time or money to the facility. That fact, coupled with the strong community presence at the open house, had a powerful impression on Polson Mayor Pat DeVries.

“What a beautiful home for Loaves and Fishes and what a great way to celebrate our 100 years,” she said, noting the coinciding centennial for the city. “This is a reminder to all of us that we live in such a beautiful, blessed place.”