HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Havre Food Bank received a generous donation on Monday.
Jordan Alefteras is a staff member at the Food Bank and says the donation on Monday of 280 boxes filled with milk, cheese, protein and produce came from the Farmers to Families Food Boxes Program from the United States Department of Agriculture.
“This program has been in place to reduce waste. So with COVID and everything that’s going on, the restaurants aren’t able to deliver the food as well, but the farmers are still making it. So there’s a huge influx that they’re trying to find places to put. With winter coming and everything as it is, we decided to take a large shipment of 280 boxes. So they just showed up, and we started a drive-thru. We served over 150 families.”
No paperwork was needed from recipients of the food boxes.
“Usually there are strict guidelines we have to follow. But with the sheer amount of food that came in, we just wanted to go with it and make it easy. We had a very large line. It was rewarding because you saw so many people with smiles on their faces.”
Alefteras says they needed help from the community in order to get the food into the hands of local residents.
“We were a little overwhelmed when the trucks showed up. And so we made a quick call out to Tilleman’s. They sent a gentleman down with a forklift within the hour and helped us unload the truck. And after that, we had loads of individual volunteers come in. It was a breathtaking experience. It was amazing to see people come together and want to help out the community.”
Another shipment is expected to arrive on Monday morning, with boxes being handed out starting at around 10 AM.
“We’re hoping to have the same kind of turnout, the same kind of positivity and help. And we’re just really looking forward to doing it again.”
