The Missoula Food Bank & Community Center takes a dignity-first approach to hunger relief. Rather than handing out pre-packed boxes, it runs a choice-model pantry it calls the Food Bank Store, which functions like a small grocery store where clients shop based on household size, and it imposes no eligibility criteria: anyone who needs food can come. Based in Missoula, it also runs childrens meal programs and community services. Amy Allison serves as Executive Director.
The Missoula Food Bank & Community Center distributes food directly to the community through its Food Bank Store, a choice-model pantry where people shop for the groceries they actually want and need, scaled to household size. There are no eligibility criteria, which removes the paperwork and stigma that keep some people from seeking help. Beyond food, it runs childrens meal programs, including weekend and summer meals, and community center services, reflecting its broader mission.
Amy Allison serves as Executive Director of the Missoula Food Bank & Community Center. A licensed clinical social worker who grew up in Havre, Montana, she previously led the Poverello Center, a Missoula homeless-services organization, where she expanded the budget and launched coordinated community programs. She brings a social-services lens to the food bank’s dignity-first model.
The Missoula Food Bank serves Missoula and the surrounding western Montana area. Missoula is a growing university city where rising housing costs have stretched many residents, and the food bank’s open-door, choice-model approach is designed to reach people who might not qualify for, or feel comfortable using, a more restrictive program.
Yes. The Missoula Food Bank & Community Center is a registered 501(c)(3). Donors can review its financials through Charity Navigator and GuideStar. As a community-based food bank, it relies heavily on local donations and volunteers, so local giving has direct impact.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through missoulafoodbank.org. Volunteers help stock and run the Food Bank Store and support childrens meal programs, and cash gifts help the food bank buy what its shoppers need most.
The Missoula Food Bank runs a direct, choice-model pantry serving its own community, while Montana Food Bank Network is the statewide hub that supplies local food banks across Montana. The two complement each other. For people in the Missoula area seeking food, the Missoula Food Bank is the local resource.
A choice-model pantry where people shop for their own groceries.
Open to anyone who needs food, with no paperwork.
Weekend and summer meal programs for kids.
Broader community services beyond food.
Sources: Missoula Food Bank & Community Center website (missoulafoodbank.org), GuideStar (EIN 81-0414143), and Missoulian and NBC Montana reporting on the appointment of Amy Allison. We are not affiliated with Missoula Food Bank & Community Center and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
More Montana and food-bank resources