GREAT FALLS — The Salvation Army’s chapter in Great Falls has applied for permits with the city to commence a renovation project that will span the entirety of summer 2023.
The location of the renovation will be at their building at 527 Ninth Avenue South.
The renovation is part of a complete overhaul of the food donation system. Under the current method, boxes filled with pre-determined staple foods are handed out to clients in need. The construction will focus on building a grocery store-like facility which will allow clients to shop around for foods tailored to their needs and desires.
“We’re going to remodel the space that we're in, and we're going to move from a food box model to what we call client choice or a grocery store model,” says Core Officer, Mark King. “So instead of families getting what we put in their box based on the size, they're going to have the opportunity to shop specifically for items that they know that they would use.”
The proposed plans would occupy nearly the entirety of the building’s floor plan, while keeping the food storage unit in the back, intact.
“We're going to put produce and food and the bakery items behind us. We're going to have a row of freezers and refrigerators that will be stocked from the back. We're going to have an area to process our donations and our produce,” says King.
During renovations, the food operations will temporarily re-locate to the Salvation Army facility located at 1000 17th Avenue South.
King hopes the changes will help in more ways than one.
“Just the added dignity of getting to choose your food rather than have somebody hand you some items. So I think it's really going to help us cut down our waste, but more importantly, it's going to just help overall self-worth and dignity for our clients,” he says.
“People have the stigma of only poor people come, only needy people come. And that's not true. In this day and age, everybody has issues. The economy is is not going well. And so everybody is welcome here,” says Family Services Supervisor, Teresa Hill.
