President and Founder, Northwest Montana Veterans Stand Down & Food Pantry
Allen W. Erickson, Sr., a U.S. Navy veteran who served from 1957 to 1963, is the visionary founder and president of the Northwest Montana Veterans Stand Down & Food Pantry. Born in Tacoma, Washington, and raised on a family farm in Lewistown, Montana, alongside four brothers and seven sisters, Allen enlisted in the Navy at 17. Stationed on the USS DD1 floating dry dock, he taught himself to be an electrician, witnessed the surrender of Japanese soldiers in Guam, and even improvised scuba diving with a WWII gas mask and air compressor—an adventurous streak that nearly cost him. His service exposed him to Agent Orange in Guam while serving abord the USS AFDD1, resulting in a lymphoma diagnosis he continues to battle while selflessly serving the community through veteran advocacy.
Father
Veteran
Leader
A Montana and Washington native, Allen, alongside his wife Linda, whom he married in 1977, transformed a two-day annual Stand Down event, launched in 1999, into a year-round veteran service center in Kalispell. They continue the annual Stand Down to this day, held the first weekend in October. The Food Pantry, opened in 2002, serves homeless, low-income, and at-risk veterans with nutritional food boxes, clothing, and medical equipment loans. Having overcome homelessness while raising three children and maintaining sobriety for over 49 years, Allen provides empathetic peer counseling, connecting veterans to vital resources. Decades ago, while running a Chevron station and working as a diesel mechanic, he quietly welcomed homeless veterans into his home—a practice he later recognized as his lifelong calling. In 1999, a doctor’s request to organize a Stand Down in Libby ignited his mission, building a legacy of relentless service that has never wavered.
Allen’s leadership expanded the organization to include a thrift store, hygiene facilities, and the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Loan Program, aiding 1,824 individuals in 2022. In 2018, he and Linda acquired Camp Ponderosa, a 79-acre former correctional facility in Swan Valley, to create a veterans’ retreat offering housing, therapy, and job training. With a renovated lodge and plans for growth, this project reflects Allen’s unrelenting vision. His peer counseling, rooted in personal triumphs over hardship, has transformed lives—like a young veteran who, after years of struggle, graduated college sober and with honors.
Honored with the 2018 Brent Hall Award from the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce for their community leadership, Allen and Linda have built one of the largest Stand Downs in the U.S., serving up to 2,500 veterans in a single weekend. In 2023, Allen began transitioning administrative duties to focus on Camp Ponderosa while remaining an active board member and deeply engaged in pantry operations. A father of six, with 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, Allen resides in Kalispell, cherishing hunting, gardening, and family time. As a father, veteran, and leader, his passion for lifting veterans out of hardship with dignity remains his driving force.
