Polson Loaves and Fish still seeks matching funds
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POLSON — The Polson Loaves & Fish Pantry volunteers are busy four days a week. They collect donations all four days and are open to give out food on Tuesday and Friday.
“We always appreciate food donations, but money is the best help since it allows us to go out and buy whatever we are currently short on,” said Pantry Director Mary Martin.
She added that the food bank is currently working to raise funds for a matching grant. The Town Pump donation is $15,000, but before the food bank can qualify for the money, they have to raise their own $15,000 to match.
Martin said the money from this event helps a great deal, although, “it does take far more than that to keep things running and the shelves fully stocked.”
The biggest challenge the food bank faces she said is making sure there is enough money to pay for everything. Money runs out faster lately with the rising costs of food. Though funds aren’t stretching as far as they did in past years, the amount of people served has increased by 10 percent.
The number of volunteers though has remained consistent over the years - between 60 to 70 people.
Volunteer Jeanne Breinhardt, who was in charge of getting the Christmas bags out to everyone last Friday, saidm “Me and my husband volunteer because we are retired and we wanted something to do and this gives us that and allows us to help the community and help make sure the shelves stay stocked the best they can.”
There are times, she said, when the shelves can’t be stocked with specific needed items because they either haven’t had that item donated or don’t have the funds to get it.
Polson Loaves and Fish accepts food and monetary donations any of the days they are open. They also accept wild game meat that is processed by a licensed butcher.
The pantry is located at 904 1st Street East and can be phoned at 406-883-6864.
