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your homegrown newspaper
Vol. 18, No. 21
February 9, 2022
Mandate pg. 7
ROB ZOLMAN / VALLEY JOURNAL
The Mission Valley Food Bank serves three towns, but has experienced a decline in volunteers. Left: volunteer Jane Snyder puts fresh fruits into food boxes for families. Right: volunteer Barbara Plouffe brings a box of food to an outside table for pick up.
Celebration pg. 8
Area food pantries seek volunteers By Taylor Davison Valley Journal
Sports pg. 14
LAKE COUNTY — As new residents move into Lake County, food banks throughout are requesting new volunteers to help with their operations. The food bank in St. Ignatius has a population of volunteers that is beginning to age, and as a result have less availability to help. “Most of us are in our mid70s. We’ve been doing this for
a while,” said Heidi Riddle of the Mission Valley Food Bank. With new neighbors moving in more often, she’s hoping to see some new faces ready to help. Open every Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., except the last Friday of the month which they swap for a Saturday, the food bank relies heavily on volunteers to serve the population. “Basically, people can choose their hours,” Riddle explained. “We try to have peow w w.va l le yj our na l.net
ple come in maybe once or twice a month to work.” Every six to eight weeks, the food bank receives a delivery of food from the Montana Food Bank Network, including many heavy items. “We really need people to help with our deliveries,” Riddle said. “But mostly we need people to help hand out food.” Serving Arlee, St. Ignatius, and Ravalli communities, the Mission Valley Food bank is
presently using a boxed system to distribute food to families in need. Based on the size of the family, the boxes are pre-made by volunteers. When families arrive to pick up their food, they check in at the food bank’s window, and then the boxes are brought to a table outside for families to take. “We’re looking at maybe changing that,” Riddle commented. The food bank used to
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