In the Poverello Center kitchen, coffee always starts brewing at 5 a.m. As people wake up, they start to grab pastries and coffee. Many people stop at the front desk on their way to finish getting ready, and ask for a toothbrush or a washcloth.

Kitchen staff and volunteers are already preparing lunch by the time people are done with breakfast. Pots of stew bubble on the stove and trays of garlic bread bake in the oven. When the doors open for lunch service, people are already lined up.

For people experiencing homelessness, every moment can feel uncertain. They may not know where they will lay their head that night, if they will be able to make it to a doctor’s appointment, or if they will be able to save up for a deposit on an apartment.

To build certainty in our community, the Poverello Center is dedicated to regular meal times, with enough food to go around. Anyone in our community can come in for a free meal during our scheduled lunch and dinner services.

For people unable to make scheduled services, we provide sack lunches, made by our amazing volunteers. These lunches are perfect for people who work during the day or who stay outside of shelter for any reason.

Knowing that a meal from our kitchen can be the only certain thing in someone’s day, our staff work tirelessly to make sure that nothing stops our meal service. “I’ve seen us deal with pandemics, floods, and power outages,” says David Heffner, the Food Programs Manager, “but I don’t think we’ve ever had a day where we didn't serve a meal.”

Our food program is our largest and longest-running program, and is cemented as one of the primary stopgaps from hunger in Missoula. But with rising costs and fewer resources, we need your support to continue providing food for anyone in need.

Please donate today to help us put food on plates, or sign up to volunteer to serve your community alongside us!

During this campaign, your donation is matched dollar-for-dollar thanks to a generous donor!

Everything Runs on Food

By Poverello Center, Inc.

Everything Runs on Food

Building certainty - with enough to go around