MISSOULA — The Poverello Center is looking for food, toiletry and cleaning supply donations as the grocery stores in Missoula struggle to meet the demand for items.
The Poverello Center gathers 8,000 to 13,000 pounds of food from grocery stores to serve 400 to 600 meals a day out of their soup kitchen. The Poverello Center has seen a 50% drop in food coming in through the Food Rescue Program, due to grocery stores struggling to stock items.
“The Food Rescue Program is absolutely critical to making sure we have enough food to serve each day,” Jared Bell, Poverello Center Food Services Manager, said. “We are so thankful for our partnership with local grocery stores, but as people buy larger than normal quantities of food, there is very little they can do. The consequences then fall down to us, making it harder to meet our mission to serve three healthy meals a day.”
The community can help the Poverello Center by donating the following items:
- Starches (like noodles, rice and potatoes)
- Meat
- Produce
- Sandwich making supplies (like bread, sliced meat, cheese, and condiments)
- Non-perishable canned foods
The Poverello Center could also use donations of cleaning supplies and toilet paper.
When bringing your donation to the Poverello Center, the staff will meet donors outside as the shelter is trying to limit the number of people coming into the building to protect our most vulnerable guests.
If you would like to go to the center and donate, call (406) 529-5643 and a staff person will come outside and meet you.
Restaurants who have closed because of the COVID-19 crisis and who would like to donate their excess food can call (406) 529-5643 and the Poverello Center can arrange to pick it up.
