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Mobile Pantry March 5 in Trenton
TRENTON, Neb. -- The third "Mobile Pantry" in Hitchcock County will be Saturday, March 5, from 10 a.m. until noon CT at the school gym in Trenton.
The fourth Mobile Pantry in Southwest Nebraska will be in Hayes County, Saturday, April 2, from 10 a.m. until noon CT in the old gym at the junior/senior high school in Hayes Center.
Other Mobile Pantries throughout Southwest Nebraska are scheduled until the end of the year. There are no income restrictions for those shopping at the Mobile Pantries; the only condition is that they must be Nebraska residents.
Participants at each Pantry distribution must bring their own boxes and bags -- laundry baskets and small folding wheeled shopping carts work great -- as boxes are not available at the site. They are also asked not to wait until the last minute because the distribution is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Foods remaining after each distribution are donated to local community/county pantries.
The Mobile Pantry program of the "Food Bank for the Heartland," located in Omaha, was created to provide food where there is a high need but limited resources, and to help local Pantries help families in need. Food Bank for the Heartland works with a nonprofit agency (such as the Hitchcock County Pantry) to schedule a Mobile Pantry and advertise it in the community. In 2014, the Food Bank's Mobile Pantry program distributed nearly 3 million pounds of food to approximately 39,800 households in need in Nebraska and western Iowa.
"It sounds almost too good to be true," says JoLyn Hare, Culbertson's village clerk and a coordinator for Mobile Pantries in Southwest Nebraska. "But it is true," Barb Ostrum, a member of the board of directors for the Hitchcock County Pantry, emphasized. Anyone living in Southwest Nebraska can participate, there are no income restrictions and these are quality foods, she said.
The foods for the Mobile Pantries come from the Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, and include fresh breads, rolls and baked goods and fresh fruits, vegetables and meats, as well as some non-perishable canned foods.
JoLyn emphasized that foods coming from the Food Bank in Omaha do not affect or reduce the amount of foods available to community/county Pantries that get their groceries at the Mid-Nebraska Food Bank in Kearney.
She and Barb explained that the Food Bank of the Heartland program is a service that has been available to Southwest Nebraska for a couple years, but that it had gone unused in most of the counties until JoLyn worked closely with Lea Childress, manager of Network Expansion at the Food Bank for the Heartland, to bring the first Mobile Pantry to Hitchcock County, in Culbertson in August 2015.
JoLyn said she saw a growing need for assistance, and Lea wanted to reach out to southwestern Nebraska. They've worked together to schedule more Mobile Pantries throughout Southwest Nebraska.
Each Mobile Pantry is staffed by local volunteers, and requires some muscle, moving carts and manpower to help unload the truck, haul the food inside, arrange it all on tables and guide shoppers through the line. High school kids volunteered for the first two Mobile Pantries in Southwest Nebraska, in Culbertson and in Stratton, and coordinators have truly appreciated their muscles and their willingness to act as "carry-out boys" for elderly and disabled shoppers trying to juggle their boxes.
JoLyn and Barb suggest not shopping alone, as there is a lot of food available and boxes can get heavy.
Mobile Pantries in Southwest Nebraska this summer, fall and winter will follow this schedule:
* Saturday, July 23, Hitchcock County, Palisade school gym, 10 a.m. until noon CT, 8,000 pounds of food to be distributed
* Saturday, Aug. 13, Dundy County, Benkelman, location to be determined, 10 a.m. noon MT, 6,000 pounds of food.
* Saturday, Oct. 8, Hitchcock County, Stratton, location to be announced, 10 a.m. until noon CT, 7,000 pounds of food.
* Saturday, Dec. 10, Hitchcock County, Culbertson, location to be announced, 10 a.m. until noon CT, 8,000 pounds of food.