Allen and Linda Erickson founded the NW Montana Veterans Pantry & Stand Down over 21 years ago to serve our veteran community in the Flathead Valley and North West region of Montana. Since then we have expanded our operation to include a variety of other veteran services such as our Veterans Thrift Store, DME medical equipment and loan programs, homeless facilities and more.
We love our veterans and work hard every day to help meet their needs and give them the respect they deserve as heroes of our great country.
Sen. Steve Daines Honors The Ericksons
Winners of the 2018 Brent Hall Award
The Brent Hall Award is given each year by the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce to honor a person whose legacy exemplifies a spirit of giving, community and business leadership, volunteerism, and advocacy for and support of others. The Selection Committee consists of Chamber representatives.
Allen and Linda Erickson, who founded the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry, were honored with the award that honors a person(s) whose legacy exemplifies a spirit of giving, community and business leadership, volunteerism and advocacy for the support of others.
Board of Directors
The Northwest Montana Veteran’s Food Pantry is fortunate enough to have a large and diverse Board of Directors. We currently have ten members on our board, eight of them hail from the beautiful Flathead Valley. Our other two board members join us, one each, from Troy and Libby.
We are an organization focused on helping Veterans and their families, in the Northwest corner of Montana, and our board composition reflects this. We have five Veterans on our board and their involvement is crucial in staying on mission. The other five members are all parents, spouses, family members, and friends of Veterans. Each of our board members comes from a different background; retired military, retired law enforcement, attorney, contractor, and social work. Our unity lies in our commitment to the goal of serving Veterans, but our true strength can be found in the accumulated experience and varied expertise we bring to the table as a unit.
We meet as a board on the first Wednesday of every other month. In the scheduled meeting, we take the time to come together as a group and ensure things are working how we want. We also hold special meetings when we have an event, like a Stand-down or fundraiser, to prepare for. These meetings allow us to focus on specific items at a level that we could not do during a normal monthly meeting. It is important to our organization and our board members to provide maximum focus to our programs, and if that requires extra meetings, that is our job.
Our board members are actively engaged in all levels of our organization. We strive to have several board members at any function or event that we host or participate in. The time they donate is not required of their position; it is given freely and with great pride. Our board members recognize that investing in our organization is critical and that its continued ability to provide services to Veterans depends on charitable giving. It all comes back to our main goal, helping Veterans and their families, and our board is always ready to jump in and help as needed.
Allen Erickson
Allen W. Erickson, Sr., president and founder
Linda Erickson
Linda Erickson is a Co-Founder of North West Montana Veterans Stand Down & Food Pantry
Lyn Ogle
He has served on the Board of the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry for the past several years and is a founding member. He is also a member of the North Valley Search & Rescue.
Bonny Ogle
She has been on the Board of the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry for the past several years and is a founding member. She is also a member of the North Valley Search & Rescue.
Andy Kirk
Served on the Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry board of directors, Kalispell Regional Medical Center Foundation, and CASA for Kids in the Flathead. I am also the finance chair for the Kalispell Regional Medical Center Foundation.
Staff & Long-Term Volunteers
Northwest Montana Veterans Stand Down & Food Pantry is blessed with a platoon of committed staff members and volunteers who work tirelessly to support our veterans. We are grateful for each of them and are reminded on a daily basis how truly dedicated and invaluable they are.
Staff Members:
Mike Porter, Thrift Store
Cinnamon Davis/ Hall, Community Outreach Specialist
Chris Cooper, Backroom Manager
Cynthia Neilsen, Thrift Store Manager
Sheri Danielson, Receptionist & Office Assistant
Rebecca (“Becky”) Barnett, Food Pantry Manager
Long-Term Volunteers:
Roy Kidder, Receiving Supervisor/RSVP
Gary Thompson, Pickups & Deliveries
Tina Baker- Galloway, Hairdresser
Leroy Turner, Food Distribution
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