North Valley Food Bank's Forever June Community Celebration

The North Valley Food Bank’s fourth annual Forever June Celebration is on Friday, June 14 from 5 - 8 p.m. at the food bank, 251 Flathead Ave, in Whitefish.

Forever June is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the generosity of Glacier Bank. 

In honor of NVFB’s late founder, June Munski-Feenan, the event is in appreciation of the numerous community members throughout northwestern Montana who support North Valley Food Bank’s mission of building food security and strengthening communities. 

From the food bank’s humble beginnings when June fed her community out of her garage in the late 1970s, to their exponential growth to meet the rising need for food assistance, the food bank would like to celebrate everyone who helped them get here along the way. 

“This event has everything that our small-town community loves,” said Maddie Culhane, NVFB community outreach coordinator. “Live music by local artists Radio Ranch, delicious BBQ made in our very own commercial kitchen, fun for the whole family and, of course, free beer from Backslope Brewing.” 

Guests will have the opportunity to tour the facility, learn about NVFB’s services to the community and volunteer opportunities, and discover what NVFB has been cooking up in their culinary programming and shared community kitchen. 

NVFB will be hosting a Kitchen Utensil Drive at the event and encourages guests to bring a new utensil to donate. Items such as wooden spoons, spatulas, cutting boards, can openers and more will be gratefully accepted and passed along to NVFB customers. 

With NVFB’s new kitchen programs providing recipes and creative ways to eat healthy in any sized kitchen, the result of the utensil drive allows food bank customers to create nutritious meals for themselves and their families. 

Along with that, each item donated will qualify for a raffle ticket. Several generous local businesses that have donated raffle items include Vibe Wellness, Trovare, Tailwaggers, Imagination Station, Spotted Bear Spirits and others. 

North Valley Food Bank provides food assistance to more than 1,000 people weekly through its free-choice model grocery store and mobile pantries in the northern Flathead and neighboring communities. In 2023, 4,402 different community members were served, 25% of whom were children. In addition, the food bank runs a rural delivery program to support sister pantries from the upper reaches of northwestern communities such as Troy, Libby, and Yaak, to the Blackfeet Nation east of the divide. 

NVFB accepts non-perishable food donations year-round, 5 days a week at its facility in Whitefish. Perishables such as fresh produce and frozen goods can be received at the food bank Monday - Thursday from 9 am - 3 pm.

For information visit northvalleyfoodbank.org, Facebook, Instagram or contact Maddie Culhane, maddie@northvalleyfoodbank.org or 406-862-5863 (Ext. 1008).