The line of people outside the Freestore Foodbank during the holidays is a humbling image that, once viewed, can't be forgotten. For many, it's one of the most poignant images of the holiday season: the juxtaposition of hundreds of hungry people in the midst of a thriving urban environment.
But even though there is a great need for assistance within the urban core, most are not aware there are just as many hungry neighbors in suburban and rural areas.
While we have long delivered food to our rural neighbors in need, in the past we often weren't always able to deliver wholesome perishable foods. There simply was no way to keep perishables at proper and safe temperatures during the hour-or-longer journey to Scioto County in Ohio, Owens County in Kentucky and Switzerland County in Indiana. However, around this time last year, the Freestore Foodbank added a weapon to its hunger-fighting arsenal when we were one of the seven food banks nationwide to receive a Kraft Foods Mobile Pantry.
Literally a food pantry on wheels, the Mobile Food Pantry is a 26-foot refrigerated truck that holds up to 10,000 pounds of food. The mobile food pantry provides us with the ability to distribute more food and more types of food - very quickly and efficiently. The refrigerated truck brings fresh foods, notably fruits, vegetables, proteins and dairy items, helping our rural neighbors get the essential nutrients they need.
The Mobile Food Pantry has the capacity to serve approximately 150 families per stop, depending on the number of pounds of food scheduled for distribution. It makes an average of five trips a week and annually distributes more than 750,000 pounds of food approximately 500,000 meals to those in our rural areas who might otherwise go hungry.
Although Kraft and Feeding America have been very generous to us with the Mobile Pantry over the past year, it's really events like the upcoming Rubber Duck Regatta that provide us resources to provide our rural neighbors with fresh, nutrient-rich food.
So the next time you see that line in front of our Liberty Street Food Room, remember that because of our Mobile Pantry our neighbors outside the city won't be going hungry during the holidays either.
For more information on the Freestore Foodbank or the Rubber Duck Regatta, visit
here.