SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services

What SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services does

SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services is a private nonprofit organization founded in December 2021 by Jay Wood, a 24-year veteran of the US Coast Guard and Air National Guard, and his wife Susan Wood, headquartered at 505 Main St. in Deer Lodge, Montana. The organization provides a coordinated set of support services for veterans and their families in Southwest Montana, including a grocery-store-style food pantry offering monthly staples and weekly perishables at no cost, mobile food distributions to rural communities, transportation to medical appointments, and suicide-prevention support delivered by certified peer support specialists with lived veteran experience. A thrift store opened at the same Deer Lodge address in 2024 to generate earned revenue that subsidizes pantry overhead, and the organization runs an annual calendar of fundraisers — most prominently the BIG Raffle and the Poker Run & Community BBQ — alongside seasonal holiday food box programs.

The operating model is volunteer-driven with a stated headcount of 1-10 and no proprietary technology systems; standard nonprofit management and communication tools handle donor CRM, scheduling, and outreach. Services are gated by military ID, VA card, or DD214 verification, and the organization distributes to communities including Missoula, Seeley Lake, Dillon, Butte, Townsend, and Whitehall, with stated intent to expand into 12+ Southwest Montana counties. A capital campaign is underway to purchase the current facility and replace refrigeration/freezer units and the roof, signaling intent to convert occupancy from a recurring cost into an owned asset.

Revenue is assembled from individual donations (via PayPal, Venmo, and mailed checks), thrift store sales (with a veteran discount), fundraising events (raffle tickets at $10 each or six for $50, silent auctions, event participation), and a small set of institutional partners including Town Pump Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Montana, Walmart.org, Powell County Community Foundation, Marilyn Lichtman Foundation, and American Legion. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: outreach to veterans flows through peer networks, veteran-organization referrals, mobile distribution events, regional earned media, and an active Instagram presence. The organization was recognized with the 2021 Montana Governor's Veteran Commendation to its co-founder in August 2022 and operates under a "hand up, not a handout" philosophy designed to preserve veteran dignity in service delivery.

Name

SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services

Legal name

SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry and Services

Website

https://swmtvetsfoodpantry.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services is a Deer Lodge, Montana nonprofit founded in 2021 that provides free groceries, mobile food distribution, medical-appointment transport, and veteran peer-support suicide prevention across Southwest Montana, funded by donations, fundraising events, and a 2024 thrift store.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Veteran Support Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding) (BPAGAAAD), Food & Nutrition Assistance Programs (BPAIAKAF)

Keywords

• Veteran food assistance
• Veteran support services
• Community food pantry
• Mobile food distribution
• Veteran peer support

Headquarters

HQ city

Deer Lodge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and monthly donations from individuals supporting the veteran community. Donors can contribute via PayPal, Venmo, or check mailing.
2. Thrift Store Sales: Revenue from thrift store sales helps support pantry overhead and expenses. Veterans receive discounted shopping rates.
3. Fundraising Events: Annual raffles, poker runs, community BBQs, and seasonal events generate fundraising revenue through ticket sales, silent auctions, and event participation fees.
4. Partnership Giving: Business and organizational partnerships providing financial or in-kind support at various giving levels.
5. Capital Campaign: Capital Support Campaign raising funds for facility purchase, refrigeration/freezer unit replacement, and roof installation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services is a private nonprofit that provides free food assistance and veteran support services to military veterans and their families across Southwest Montana. Its core offerings include a grocery-store-style food pantry, mobile food distribution to rural communities, transportation to medical appointments, suicide prevention and peer support, and a thrift store, all funded through donations, grants, partnerships, and earned revenue.

Product overview

SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services is a veteran-founded nonprofit organization offering a coordinated portfolio of essential services for veterans and their families in Southwest Montana. The core offering consists of a grocery-store-style food pantry, mobile food distribution to rural communities, transportation to medical appointments, suicide prevention with certified peer support specialists, and a thrift store. The organization also conducts annual fundraising events including raffles, poker runs, and community BBQs to sustain operations. The portfolio is unified by a 'hand up, not a handout' philosophy focused on serving veterans with dignity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Pantry Grocery-store-style walk-in food pantry at 505 Main St., Deer Lodge, providing eligible veterans and their families with nutritious food items, monthly staples, and weekly perishables including dairy, produce, bread, and deli products at no cost. Veterans register on first visit with military ID, VA card, or DD214.
• Mobile Food Distribution Mobile/outreach program that brings free grocery distributions directly to veterans and their families in rural Southwest Montana communities, addressing transportation barriers and serving 12+ counties including Missoula, Seeley Lake, Dillon, Butte, Townsend, and Whitehall.
• Appointment Transport Free transportation service that provides rides for veterans and their spouses to medical appointments with advance notice, addressing transportation barriers across the service area.
• Suicide Prevention Veteran-focused suicide awareness and prevention program staffed by Certified Peer Support Specialists (lived-experience veterans) who provide crisis support, connect veterans to mental health resources, and address PTSD, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
• Veterans Thrift Store Retail thrift store at 505 Main St., Deer Lodge, open to veterans and the general public; veterans receive discounted pricing on merchandise. Proceeds support pantry operations, overhead, and expenses.

Quantifiable outcome

• Grown from 75 pounds of food in December 2021 to a thriving pantry serving veterans and families
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, notable and minor.

• American LegioncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor donor and partner supporting veteran services. Collaborates on food distribution events including Butte distribution at American Legion Post #1. Hosts Townsend food giveaway at American Legion Post 42.
• Cheese Brothers of WisconsinnotableGTM or Marketing PartnerAwarded Deer Lodge veteran with a year of free cheese for the food pantry (November 2023). Provides ongoing in-kind donations of cheese products for veteran distribution.
• Montana Veterans FoundationcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerState-level veteran organization partner supporting veteran services in Montana.
• American Heart AssociationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity partner supporting heart health awareness and veteran wellness.
• Les Schwab TiresminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner through Tires for Purpose program supporting community causes.
• Producer PartnershipminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner providing agricultural products for veteran food distributions.
• Underwater SoldierscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovative therapeutic program using scuba diving for veterans with PTSD, anxiety, depression. SW Montana Food Pantry supports and participates in fundraising events for this program, connecting veterans to mental health services.
• MSU BobcatsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity athletics partner participating in community events.
• Fairmont Montana (Golf)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal business donating items for silent auctions and raffles.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Operation Homefront: National nonprofit delivering food, financial assistance, and transitional housing to veteran and military families; directly comparable in mission (wraparound veteran family support including food security) and donor base.
• Meals on Wheels America: National network delivering meals and nutrition support to seniors and vulnerable populations; comparable in food-delivery service model and reliance on volunteer-driven logistics, though targeted at elderly rather than veterans.
• Hunger Free Montana: Montana-focused anti-hunger coalition and advocacy organization; comparable as a regional food-security nonprofit operating in the same state, often partnering with community pantries like SWMT Veterans Food Pantry on distribution and policy.
• Disabled American Veterans (DAV): National veterans service organization providing transportation to medical appointments, benefits assistance, and food/goods support; directly comparable to SWMT's appointment transport and VA benefits navigation services.
• Montana Food Bank Network: Statewide food bank network serving Montana pantries and feeding programs; directly comparable as a regional food-assistance backbone in the same geography, sharing donor and logistics partners with SWMT Veterans Food Pantry.

Emerging players

• Team Rubicon: Veteran-led disaster response and community resilience nonprofit; comparable as a peer in veteran-led service delivery, with overlapping funding sources (corporate, foundation) and a similar 'veterans serving community' positioning.

Others

• The American Legion: Largest U.S. wartime veterans service organization with extensive community-service programs; comparable as an ecosystem partner and donor (American Legion Posts host SWMT distributions), and adjacent in providing benefits navigation and emergency aid to veterans.
• Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW): Major congressionally chartered veterans service organization with Posts across Montana; comparable as a parallel veteran-services ecosystem with overlapping donor pool and community-event-driven fundraising model.
• Bob Woodruff Foundation: National foundation funding veteran and military family programs (food insecurity, mental health, employment); comparable as a complementary funder/grantor in the veteran family support space that the subject nonprofit could pursue for programmatic funding.

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America: National network of 200+ food banks; comparable as the dominant incumbent in community food assistance in the U.S., with affiliated pantries operating in the same regions where SWMT Veterans Food Pantry distributes food.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/swmtvetsfoodpantry
• Facebookfacebook.com/SWMTVeteransFoodPantry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SW Montana Veterans Food Pantry & Services