Stronger together: From milk in the snow to online community care

As we step into a new year, I want to begin my monthly column on a hopeful note. 

The challenges our community has faced this past year have revealed something powerful: unprecedented community care. During the holidays, I witnessed moments of hope almost daily. They showed up as people offering neighbors rides to the food bank, volunteers stepping in at the last minute, a donor dropping off a trunk full of turkeys, our driver taking extra routes to reach rural neighbors, and a community member connecting with a stranger needing support on social media and shopping for her at the food bank.

Repeatedly, we have seen a shared understanding that none of us should have to weather hard seasons alone. In the Flathead Valley, hope has always looked like people taking care of each other.

That care has deep roots here. North Valley Food Bank (NVFB) did not begin as an organization with a mission statement. It began as neighbors helping neighbors, right out of June Munski-Feenan’s garage. In those early days, June stored milk in the snow and made sure everyone could go home with something nourishing. From the very beginning, our work was grounded in dignity. To this day, we remain a low-barrier food bank with minimal paperwork and a clear commitment that everyone is welcome.

That origin story matters, especially now. Today, NVFB operates with full-time staff, hundreds of volunteers, strict food safety regulations, a free grocery store, mobile pantries, and partnerships that stretch across the region. The scale has changed, but the spirit remains the same. What began as informal care has grown into a nonprofit designed to provide consistent, equitable, and reliable access to food.

Having a robust organization matters, particularly during times of crisis, like the public benefit cuts or delays we have experienced recently. NVFB can coordinate resources quickly, advocate for long-term solutions, and ensure access to services is consistent. Long after emergencies fade from headlines, it is local people and local organizations who remain, continuing the slow, essential work of community care.

Alongside this work, mutual aid continues to thrive in our valley. Mutual aid is reciprocal care rooted in the understanding that everyone will need support at some point and that everyone has something to offer. The Flathead Valley Giving Table Facebook page, initiated during the SNAP benefit freezes in November, has become a modern version of June’s garage, a place where neighbors share what they have, ask for what they need, and respond to one another in real time. The solutions are immediate, relational, and deeply human.

We see the relationship between mutual aid and nonprofit work most clearly through our partnership with the Giving Table. While NVFB provides consistent access to food through our grocery store and mobile pantries, the Giving Table helps address barriers we cannot always solve alone, such as transportation challenges or the need for food outside of our opening hours. Through social media, neighbors connect directly, and volunteers step in to deliver food to families who cannot make it to the food bank. Many of those volunteers use NVFB as a resource, picking up food here and bringing it directly to their neighbors. The Giving Table also helps raise awareness about our services and how a low-barrier food bank works, making it easier for people to seek support without shame or confusion. Community members have shared that knowing what food is available each week helps families plan around dietary needs, and in response, we are working on sharing key weekly food items on our website.

When mutual aid and nonprofits work hand in hand in this way, communities are better equipped to meet both urgent needs and long-term challenges. Mutual aid moves quickly and flexibly. Nonprofits bring infrastructure, sustainable support, and long-term capacity. Together, we can form a web of community care that can adapt, endure, and reach farther than either could alone.

As we enter this new year, this feels like a reminder that hope looks a lot like honoring the mutual aid roots of our organization while continuing to strengthen the systems that carry care forward.

From a garage packed with milk in the snow to a valley-wide social media network of care, our community has always known this truth: we are strongest when we show up for one another. May this year invite us to keep doing just that, with humility, generosity, and the shared belief that community itself is our most important resource.

Sophie Albert is the executive director of North Valley Food Bank.