Mobile Pantry Program

The Breakdown of A Second Harvest Mobile Pantry:

• A blue Second Harvest truck delivers 8,400 pounds of food (the equivalent of 7,000 meals) to long lines of needy people in low-income neighborhoods.
• An estimated 237 families benefit from each mobile pantry, taking home 28-40 pounds of food to their households.
• The cost to sponsor a mobile pantry distribution is $1,200.

Second Harvest is committed to providing relief to communities and neighborhoods where food resources are scarce. One way we accomplish this is by delivering trucks filled with healthy foods and other key staples to economically challenged areas where residents might otherwise find their dinner tables empty. Second Harvest works with a member agency or a sponsoring group such as a church, school or civic center to identify an appropriate distribution point and to recruit volunteers.

In 2011, Second Harvest coordinated 260 mobile distributions, serving 61,620 families. In order to meet the need in 2012, that number will double to 520 mobile events, two per day Monday-Friday, throughout the year.

These distributions help provide a bridge to enable folks to survive difficult times. Mobile pantries feed homebound seniors, expectant mothers, and working families who work hard and earn income but simply can’t find a way to make ends meet. Mobile pantries also ease the transportation barriers that prevent some families from visiting a pantry to receive food assistance.

These rolling food pantries also provide an important tool for Second Harvest to continue growing its distribution network outside of the walls of its Jessie Street facility. As the food bank searches for ways to maximize the capacity of its 30,000-square-foot warehouse, mobile distributions have become an important tool.

More than 4.3 million pounds of food will be delivered directly into low-income neighborhoods through the mobile distribution program in 2012 – almost 20 percent of the organization’s projected output for the calendar year.

How Can You Help?

Sponsoring a mobile pantry is a personal, powerful experience for all involved. Volunteers can engage directly with families in their community that are hungry – and will leave knowing that they have made a difference in those neighbor’s lives. For companies and organizations, it offers an opportunity for community involvement – and positive recognition.

To learn more about the Second Harvest mobile pantry program, or to sponsor a distribution, contact Karen Rieley, vice president for advancement, at 904.730.8281 or e-mail krieley@WeNourishHope.org.