The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Mo. has added a new mobile pantry location to distribute fresh foods to neighbors in need in our community. The new distribution will take place on the third Wednesday of every month from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson City located at 1105 Lafayette Street, Jefferson City, Mo. 65101. The first distribution will be help on October 17.
According to Feeding America, one in six adults and one in five children in Missouri face food insecurity, not knowing when or where they will get their next meal. The Food Bank operates in 32 counties across the state, feeding more than 100,000 people every month. Mobile pantries make it possible to distribute food in areas that do not have a brick and mortar pantry. These food pantries on wheels are an efficient way to get fresh, nutritious food to those who need it most.
“The biggest benefit to mobile distribution is the ability to provide foods to encourage to areas that might not have the capacity to store these kinds of food items,” says Eric Maly, Director of Programs.
The Food Bank operates 15 mobile pantries across the state every month, six of which are in Cole Country – including the new Boys & Girls Club location. The United Way of Central Missouri Foundation provided the financial support to purchase another mobile pantry truck for The Food Bank in December 2016. Each mobile pantry can carry 10,000-12,000 pounds of food and due to their refrigeration capabilities, much of the food distributed can be fresh, perishable goods such as produce, proteins and dairy, foods that encourage a healthy lifestyle.
The Food Bank has distributed more than 1.2 million pounds of food via mobile pantries so far this year, over 540,000 of those pounds being fresh produce. The largest challenges to the mobile pantry program are the distribution themselves, specifically recruiting volunteers and maintaining an orderly and timely distribution.
To find out more about mobile pantries, click here.
To find a list of mobile pantries and partner agencies by county, click here.