The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina will soon be able to deliver food to the needy with its new mobile food pantry.
Food Lion donated the truck. President Meg Ham says many families in need don’t have the transportation to get to a food distribution center.
“The great thing about this pantry is that it can go anywhere, whether it’s a school where 99% of the children receive free or reduced lunch and may not have meals over the summer or over the weekends," said Ham. "Or a disaster situation where there is a new immediate need or a community with total lack of access to food.”
Food Lion says the mobile food pantry is part of their commitment to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020.
Peter Werbicki is President and CEO of the regional Food Bank. He says they hope to have the mobile food pantry set up at a half dozen schools soon.
“The truck will enable the parents of the children to be able to get up on the truck and select their product of choice. So it’s a little bit as a client’s choice. And we’ve never had a vehicle to that has enabled us to do that," said Werbicki.
The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina serves 34 counties in the central and eastern part of the state.
This week, Food Lion celebrated the grand re-openings of 162 stores in the Raleigh region, which includes Durham and Fayetteville.
