North Valley Food Bank to host pay-what-you-can Valentine's Day meal

The North Valley Food Bank will host a pay-what-you-can, to-go Valentine's Day meal on Thursday, served by participants in its pilot incubator kitchen program; the event runs from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and includes facility tours and staff Q&A.

The North Valley Food Bank will host a pay-what-you-can, to-go Valentine's Day meal on Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at its facility on 251 Flathead Ave. in Whitefish. The menu was created and will be prepared by participants in the food bank's pilot incubator kitchen program. Entrees include bolognese with house-made focaccia, beet burgers with a root vegetable salad, a creamy pork and white bean dish, and red velvet or carrot cake for dessert. The event also offers tours of the facility and an opportunity for community members to speak with staff. Key details: - The meal is described as pay-what-you-can with a suggested price of $25 and will be served to-go from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday. - The incubator kitchen pilot launched in November and has hosted presentations on topics such as insurance, marketing, funding, licensing, and business planning. - About 15 community members took part in the program presentations, and 10 program participants helped prepare this week's pop-up event. - The food bank installed a commercial kitchen in recent years and is using the space to give small food businesses access to commercial kitchen time and shared resources. - The North Valley Food Bank is also running its sixth-annual "Feed Love" food drive and fundraiser through the remainder of the month; in 2025 the food bank enrolled 962 new families and recorded more than 27,000 pantry visits, a 26% increase from the prior year, according to a press release. Summary: The pop-up meal serves as an informal graduation for the first cohort of the incubator kitchen pilot and highlights local small-business training efforts while offering community meals. Organizers say they hope to keep supporting participants and to run future program rounds, and the food bank's monthlong "Feed Love" drive continues through February.