Facts about mobile food pantries

[September 27, 2011]  SPRINGFIELD -- You may have seen one of the Central Illinois Foodbank trucks stopped in a parking lot, pallets being unloaded and volunteers buzzing around tables of food. This is the scene of a mobile pantry, a grant-funded program in which the Central Illinois Foodbank works with local partners to bring food directly to people in counties around central Illinois.

About a year and a half ago, Central Illinois Foodbank began implementing mobile pantries within its 21-county service area by partnering with local agencies. In addition to local agencies that have long-standing relationships with the food bank, local organizations such as Farm Bureaus and Masons have stepped forward to assist in hosting these events.

Mobile pantries serve to supplement existing food pantries. While traditional food pantries often struggle to distribute perishable food before expiration, mobile pantries offer a unique opportunity to bring the community together to distribute large amounts of mostly fresh food directly to people within a time frame of about one hour.

These mobile pantries, which are currently funded by a grant from the attorney general, are free and open anyone in need of food assistance, without identity or income verification necessary. However, the grant funding for the mobile pantries will be dispersed by the end of December; therefore, new sources of financial support for the continuation of the mobile pantries will be necessary.

Mobile pantries are currently offered in five counties: Christian, Fayette, Bond, Logan and Green. These counties were selected based on greatest need demonstrated by gap analysis, which examines the amount of food distributed by the Central Illinois Foodbank in relation to county poverty rates.

If your business or organization would like to contribute to the program by donating, volunteering or hosting a mobile pantry in one of the above-listed counties, please contact the Central Illinois Foodbank at 217-522-4022.

The next mobile food pantry in Lincoln will be on Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Lincoln/Logan Food Pantry.

[Text from file received from Central Illinois Foodbank]