Plains volunteers give food bank a new look

Nearly a dozen people gathered at the Plains Community Food Bank in order to brighten up the place and make it a more welcoming place.

"We're taking this from a not-so inviting place to an inviting place," said Carl Shaver, who heads the food bank and is in the process of having the inside of the food bank painted. Seven women and one man spent last week painting the walls a sea breeze light blue. Shaver said he and his wife, Sharon, will paint the ceiling white. The volunteers, from 13 years old to 70, were from the Assembly of God's Church on the Move and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Plains. The food bank is a nonprofit organization that belongs to the community, but it is physically located in a space at the Assembly of God Church in Plains. Volunteers finished painting the walls in a few hours Friday. Doug and Jeanne Collier of Plains delivered pizza for the painters Friday afternoon. Shaver hopes to start the ceiling this week.

Shaver took over the food bank from Bill Alde in January. He said the food bank serves around 500 people a month and he has no plans to close the shop while it's being painted. It's open each Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. He said the bank got four new clients the previous week. The majority of its customers are from Plains and Paradise, but it has people from Hot Springs, St. Ignatius and St. Regis. Qualifying for food is based on income and family size. He said their client families range from one to 11 members and he believes about 40% of them are senior citizens.

"Some people are embarrassed to come in and we don't want them to be embarrassed. We want them to feel welcomed," said Shaver, who believes that giving the place a fresh coat of paint will make it feel more welcoming.

The volunteers also included: Rhonda Leeper, Neva Thompson, Blakely Lakko, Karlee Huffman, Annika Ercanbrack, and Emory Ercanbrack.

Shaver said painting isn't the only thing he is doing to brighten up the about 1,460-square-foot food bank. He said the Town of Plains donated several boxes of LED lights, which will also make the room lighter. Shaver said that operation of the food bank relies on donations, food and monetary, along with state, federal and private grants. The bank just received a monetary grant from the First Security Bank and each year they get a large donation from the Town Pump. It gets food products from the Polson Food Bank and the Veterans Administration Food Bank in Kalispell. Every six weeks, they purchase a truck load of food from the Montana Food Bank Network.

The Plains Community Food Bank began in 1997, a product of the late Jim Sinclair, who had been the Assembly of God Church pastor for more than 20 years. Carl and Sharon Shaver are no strangers to the food business. Before moving to Plains in 2018 they owned a grocery store in Oregon.

"I see a huge need with this in our community and it's a huge blessing having the resources to help those who need the extra help," said Shaver, who added that the food bank isn't there to supply everyone's food needs. "We're just here to help them out," he said.

Esthetics aren't the only changes coming for the food bank. Shaver plans to reorganize the way customers get their food. Presently, customers having a certain number of family members received a list of pre-determined food stuffs, which are retrieved and boxed by food bank volunteers. Shaver plans to give each recipient a list of foods they qualify for and they go through the aisles and pick them out themselves. However, he said volunteers will continue to help elderly people and those with disabilities. "This way they don't get things they don't want," said Shaver.

He and his helpers will be reorganizing shelves to help make retrieving goods easier. He's looking to get a few shopping carts donated to the bank. He hopes to get the new procedures into effect by the end of April.