Former housing authority director tapped to lead food bank

The former director of Whitefish’s Housing Authority has been tapped to lead the North Valley Food Bank as it takes on a new chapter in its history.

SueAnn Grogan-King began familiarizing herself with the new distribution center off Baker Avenue last week after the food bank board of directors selected her as its first paid executive director.

Grogan-King follows in the footsteps of the late June Munski-Feenan who famously started the food bank in her garage in 1977. Munski-Feenan led the organization for nearly 40 years with the simple goal of making sure no one in need of food was ever turned away.

“To follow June — Wow!” Grogan-King said of her predecessor. “I can’t fill her shoes, but I can follow the path she set, her goals and her mission.”

Grogan-King has worked for non-profits and has been an advocate for people in need for more than 20 years. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 1980s and worked with Habitat for Humanity in the early 90s. She started and directed the Whitefish Housing Authority for 12 years before stepping down last year.

Grogan-King says her experience with the housing authority will be a benefit in her new role.

“I have knowledge about other services available in the area so we’re not duplicating services,” she said. “And working with boards is something I find rewarding and interesting.”

“I feel lucky to have landed with such a good group of people. There is a goal and everything goes to that end.”

Board member Phyllis Garlitz has been helping lead the food bank since Munski-Feenan passed away in January. Garlitz said Grogan-King rose to the top of a deep pool of qualified candidates for the job.

“She has the heart for the job,” Garlitz said. “That was the most important thing.”

Garlitz said when the board approved their budget, they decided to build in a salary for a paid director. Munski-Feenan had always volunteered her time as director.

“We really did try to find someone who would be willing to do it on a volunteer basis,” Garlitz explained. “But we felt it was time to get someone professional. By having someone who has a grasp of everything, that will release some of us to focus on other things.”

Garlitz is excited about working on more outreach and other projects.

“But to quote June,” she continued. “‘You need to feed the people,’ and that will remain our focus.”

One of Grogan-King’s first tasks is to plan an open house in June to show off the new facility and honor Munski-Feenan.

The food bank serves about 7,500 families and distributes more than 350,000 pounds of food each year. The food bank is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Distributions go out every Thursday from noon to 2 p.m.