History

The need for food resources for low income families came to the attention of members of the community in the late 1970's. With the leading of Florence Carter there were many meetings to see what could be done to remedy this problem. This group met on a regular basis, talking among themselves about the problem. Finally it was decided that enough talking had been done. The Community Hall would be the distribution site, storing the food at the court house across the street, making the food boxes at the Hall where families would come one day per week to apply for them. This went on for a short time, until it was shown that more room was needed and a regular place to store and make the food boxes. So the Food Bank took up residence at the old VFW Hall after the vets had built a new building. That building was rented from a resident in Sandpoint. After a time in their home, the owner had someone that wanted to purchase the property. Florence tried to make a deal with the owner, but to no avail. The property was sold and the Food Bank had to move again. The company that had purchase the Food Bank home gave a donation of $1,500.00 to start the search for a new location. Florence again took this on as a challenger and was eager to find just the right location. Food Banks are not always the agency that someone wants in 'their back yard' so to say. Different locations were considered only to be lost for an assortment of reasons. Then someone mentioned 'Dr Georges' building on north fifth avenue. Dr George had out grown his eye clinic some years before and had built a new building. It had set empty for a while, but was in good condition. Florence knew she had found the right location, close to down town, large enough with private office space and room for what was needed to run the Food Bank. With some negotiations the purchase was made and the Bonner Community Food Bank had their permanent home.

Up until this time the Food Bank had been operated with volunteer help. Now it was time that it needed a paid director and assistant with volunteers to help out. In comes the Community Action Agency (know now as Community Action Partnership) and offered to help them out in paying the directors salary and the assistants if they would also do the emergency energy assistance, and deliver other resources for them in Bonner County. The board of directors was more than happy for the partnership that they were able to form with the CAA. The Food Bank also became volunteer delivery system for the Salvation Army, using these funds for prescriptions, gas vouchers, clothing vouchers etc. Legal aid attorneys from Coeur d' Alene soon realized that the Food Bank would be the place to come to offer their services also. So started the once a month legal services that our clients were able to enjoy for years. Due to budget restraints the legal aid lawyers are not able to come to the Sandpoint office any longer. Due to the number of years the Food Bank has been serving the community it has a proven track record for delivery of the services to the seniors, disabled and work force families in the Sandpoint area. The Food Bank has a great history and the plans are that we will be here to make lots more history.