Helping hand

By Nick Gevock, of The Montana Standard - 11/18/2007

Marty and Elly Cooksey of Dillon check a list to ensure they’ve packed everything in a box for distribution at the Beaverhead Community Food Pantry recently. The pantry provides supplemental food for roughly 300 people every month. Nick Gevock / The Montana Standard.

DILLON — Michele Blanchard fell on hard times when her retirement virtually vanished in the stock market a few years ago.

Blanchard, who lives in Lima, said that loss, coupled with a truck that broke down, a higher cost of living and other expenses, have made it tough to make ends meet every month.

“We’re real strapped for money right now,” she said recently at Dillon’s Beaverhead Community Food Pantry, where she was picking up some groceries.

She said the pantry has been a life saver to help keep fresh food in the refrigerator and canned goods in the pantry.

“If it wasn’t for these ladies, I’d probably weigh 30 pounds less,” she joked.

Blanchard is not alone.

Every Wednesday a small crowd gathers in front of the pantry on Helena Street in Dillon. The nonprofit organization provides food for people in need. In some cases, the pantry means the difference between going to bed hungry.

In fact, the demand is so great in Beaverhead County that the pantry provides food for roughly 300 people many months, said Millie Brown, who has run the organization since it opened a decade ago. She said with Beaverhead County’s low wages at many service jobs, seasonal employment in agriculture and other factors, it’s hard for people sometimes to pay for groceries.

“It’s impossible to support a family totally on minimum wage and do all the things you need to — car repair, daycare, etc.,” she said.

Numbers tell the story The numbers from September speak to the need for the pantry.

That month, a total of 293 people received food there, Brown said. That included 87 children, 145 adults under age 55 and 61 senior citizens.

Families made up 46 of the households. Brown said of all the households that received some food, 45 have at least one member working and many are dual income.

They come from throughout Beaverhead County, as well as some from the Ruby Valley.

The pantry distributed 309 boxes of food, or a total of more than 11,000 pounds.

Dillon, however, isn’t the only community in southwest Montana in which some people are struggling. In Ennis, the Madison Valley Caring and Sharing food bank serves roughly 30 families, said Donna Crumley, a volunteer there. She said the high cost of housing in Ennis and relatively low wages there makes it hard for many people.

Abundance of local support The food banks are run entirely by volunteers. But the roughly half dozen people who get together several days a week at the Dillon pantry say they couldn’t imagine not pitching in to help others.

“We just love it,” said Elly Cooksey, who comes a couple days every week with her See HAND, Back Page Hand ...

Continued from Page A1 husband Marty Cooksey to help stuff boxes. “It’s a neat service to God first, and then to the community — the folks need help.” They’re a jovial bunch, mostly seniors who come to help out and socialize with friends. They spend a couple days a week stocking the shelves when food comes in and preparing packages to distribute.

Boxes at the Dillon pantry, which are given to families, consist of canned goods, flour and sugar and other essentials. Individuals get bags with a slightly smaller amount of food.

People who come to the pantry also receive bread, milk and bananas up front. And there are freezers full of game meat donated by local hunters, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, as well as beef, lamb and pork donated from local ranchers.

The pantry runs with a tight budget. Its biggest supporter of funding is the United Way, which gives about $15,000 annually, Brown said. The pantry also receives $2,500 per year from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But even more important is the support of local stores and ranchers. Safeway is a huge supporter, donating hundreds of pounds of food each week.

Volunteers are like family Despite the strong demand for the pantry, Brown said she sees few signs of malnourished children coming there. Teachers look for that in the schools, and kids from many households qualify for nutrition programs for breakfast and lunch there.

And the food provided by the pantry is part of the equation that helps keep kids and adults from going hungry.

The groceries from the pantry aren’t meant to supply all of a person’s nutritional needs, Brown said. She estimates that what the pantry provides would last three or four days, and many of the clients there don’t come every week.

But it does provide a valuable supplement what people can afford to buy.

Julia Blount, who comes most weeks to get some food, said the milk and cereal is especially helpful for her two school-age children. She said she appreciates not only the food but the company of the people who volunteer there.

“They are very friendly,” she said.

Marty Cooksey said he believes there’s even more of a need for help with groceries, yet many people won’t come to the pantry. And that’s a shame, he said, because the volunteers there don’t pass judgment on anyone who comes in needing help.

“Once they come in and see how friendly we are… that we don’t look down on anyone, then they come in, laugh and interact with us,” Cooksey said.

For Blanchard, coming to the pantry is like visiting friends.

“I don’t think there’s anybody here that I don’t talk to,” she said. “We’ve all got kind of a big family here.” — Reporter Nick Gevock may be reached at nick.gevock@mtstandard.com