MISSOULA — It's been years in the making, but the Montana Food Bank Network officially opened its new facility in Missoula.
The building is over 56,000 square feet, effectively almost doubling its former space.
With one in eight people experiencing food insecurity, staff said it's another step towards ending hunger in Montana.
"We exist solely to provide resources to communities across the state," MFBN Vice President Brent Weisgram said.
Distributing millions of meals each year, the Montana Food Bank Network isn't slowing down.
"We serve about 330 partner agencies across the state. This is everything from local food pantries to schools, senior centers, shelters," MFBN CEO Gayle Carlson said.
In fact, in finalizing a new facility, MFBN wants to serve all who need help.
"I think we're going to be in a much better position to be quicker responsive and more quantity of inventory," Carlson said.
They've almost doubled their space to get food to those who need it.
"We've got a freezer that'll hold about 16 semi loads of food. Coolers that can hold 6 semi loads of fresh produce. Then the warehouse itself has over 1000 pallet spots," Weisgram said.
While it was an exciting day at the Montana Food Bank Network opening their brand new facility, it comes at a time of a little bit of uncertainty.
Due to the government shutdown, many Montanans are unsure of where their next meal will come from.
"As of Oct. 10, USDA issued some guidance, and they directed states to not issue November SNAP benefits until the government is reopened," MFBN Advocacy Specialist Kiera Condon said.
MFBN reports that for every meal a food pantry provides, SNAP gives out nine.
"About 81,000 Montanans rely on SNAP," Condon said. "We only have so much capacity. We cannot fill a gap that's left by snap. So, ultimately Montanans are going to go hungry," she continued.
The future of SNAP depends on policy which has yet to be finalized.
"We're waiting to see yet what the final answer is on that, and it's going to vary state by state," Carlson said.
MFBN said its doing what it can to bring in more food since they now have the capacity to hold and distribute more than ever.
"We were all pretty insistent that we were going to get this accomplished because we knew what it meant to the hungry Montanans," Carlson said.
