Food bank meets growing demand

Rathdrum Chamber hears about programs to help those in need

RATHDRUM — Over 27% of Kootenai County residents are considered the working poor, barely skimming by on paying for food, rent, and child care. The Post Falls Food Bank is there to help.

During Rathdrum’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, the food bank’s executive director, Leslie Orth, described five programs it provides to the county. In addition to supplying struggling families with food through its 3rd Avenue Market, the food bank offers classes on nutrition, cooking, meal planning, financial budgeting and employment networking.

The Post Falls Food Bank isn’t a normal food bank, but a full-blown market.

“You walk in and you think you’re in a little mom-and-pop local store and that’s exactly what we want,” Orth said.

To enjoy the abundance of groceries, families register their home address, monthly income, and (if applicable) provide proof through the department of labor that they are part of the job seeker program. Once signed up, customers have monthly food points dependent on family size to spend on produce, canned goods, dairy, gluten-free, and grain products.

“We work really hard to have piles of vegetables and fruits,” Orth said. “Most people in poverty tend to be unhealthy; they’re not starving, they’re malnourished, and they’re usually heavy.”

Last year, the Post Falls Food Bank distributed more than 1 million pounds of food and served over 38,000 residents in Kootenai County. They are expecting that number to increase.

“Rathdrum is a growing community with a high population of lower-income families,” Orth said. “I wanted to pull Rathdrum into our fold, Rathdrum is part of the family and we are so happy to serve up here.”

Often the food bank gets more goods than it needs for the market, so it created the Food Share Program to donate produce to nonprofits, school districts and senior centers.

Some of the food bank’s other programs are nutritional and financial literacy classes, and backpack programs.

“Most of our families don’t have savings accounts,” Orth said. “We joined up with BankOn Idaho to give families classes on basic financial literacy, like what a debit card should be used for and how to reconcile money at the end of the month.”

According to Orth, about 40% of the food bank customers are young people, married or single, with kids who have limited assets and constricted incomes. Thirty percent are mentally and physically disabled, and almost 30% are elderly. For these individuals, taking care of basic necessities can be a struggle.

“It’s basic needs insecurity, but if we’ve got their food covered at least they don’t have to make that decision,” Orth said. “Normally we have 100 families a day, that’s 100 touches a day, five days a week. It’s one of those jobs where you go home and you say I did make a difference.”