There’s been some turnover in the Polson food pantry’s merry band of volunteers. As the pantry’s first paid employee at Polson Loaves and Fish, Heather Fors will become the pantry director, taking on Mary Martin’s position as manager and also Carolyn Nyquist’s as office manager.

“I’m stepping down, but I’ll still be here,” said Martin, cheerfully. She and Nyquist took the helm in 2018 when the former manager, Bryan River, retired.

Treasurer Deborah Chapman is turning her job over to Marsha Anson.

Many volunteers are needed to stock shelves, unload trucks, and enter information into the computer system as well as greeting customers and helping box up or bag food items.

Polson Loaves and Fish also supports the backpack program at Cherry Valley and Linderman Elementary Schools. They fill a backpack with nonperishable foods that are easy for a kid to open and eat in case the child needs a nourishing boost on weekends.

The group already has a freezer full of more than 300 turkeys and turkey breasts destined for the pantry’s Christmas boxes. Supplies of all the “fixin’s,” such as cranberry sauce, cake mixes, and canned vegetables, are also accumulating in a shelving area.

Every six weeks, Loaves and Fish gets a truckload of food that it buys from the Montana Food Bank Network. The pantry spent $110,000 for food last year, Martin said. She notes that the pantry purchases “the vast majority of food” on its shelves.

This is in addition to the generous donations from local grocery stores – Safeway, Walmart, and Super 1.

Since SNAP benefits were cancelled nationwide during the federal government shutdown, many folks are showing up at pantries to help feed their families.

To keep the food banks in Lake County up and running, Town Pump is offering its annual Charitable Foundation matching grant of up to $15,000 for the Loaves and Fish Food Bank, $3,500 for the Ksanka Food Pantry in Elmo and $10,000 for the Bread Basket Food Pantry in Ronan. The Town Pump press release stated that all the funds raised locally will remain in the respective communities.

If someone wants to donate, this is a time that cash can be matched. Checks can be sent to Loaves and Fishes Food Bank, 904 1st Street East, Polson or to the Bread Basket Food Pantry, 10 6th Avenue Southwest, Ronan. To donate to the Ksanka pantry, call 406-214-4787.