Mobile pantry brings food from Columbia across the state local

The mobile food pantry is a partnership between the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri and several agencies across the state. It is one of many programs that allows the food bank, based in Columbia, to act as a wholesaler to 145 partners in 32 counties. The food bank also partners with 197 schools.

The mobile food pantry program brings food each month to over 20 locations across the state in refrigerated semi-trucks from Columbia. In Jefferson City, one of its partners is United Way of Central Missouri.

On Oct. 13, two drivers loaded a truck full of pre-packed produce boxes, frozen chicken and sausage before heading to Jefferson City. There, they met with the afternoon’s volunteers and the United Way partners and set up long folding tables next to the truck.

Cars were already lined up long before the truck arrived. Since the pandemic, it’s a more streamlined service — instead of getting out to pick up their food, people drive through, parking for a minute in front of the truck where volunteers pack their trunks with food.

Many people getting food that day said they were elderly and living on fixed incomes. The pantry helps stretch their budgets, even if it’s just a few meals. Several people said they were picking up for their parents whose social security checks just don’t cover all their bills and expenses.

Tiffini Clark said she has been coming to the pantry for a few years after she was furloughed when the pandemic began. Then, she had surgery and was out of work for even longer.

“When I did go back to work, I had to catch up on bills and rent prices were up and the landlord raised the rent,” Clark said.

Joan Neighbors has to feed four kids on about $1,000 a month. She said her husband passed away, and she is a foster parent. Her kids love coming to the food bank because they get fresh fruits and vegetables and about three or four meals a month from the pantry, she said.

Kelly Warman-Stallings picked up food for herself, her two daughters, her granddaughter and her elderly neighbor, she said. Typically her daughters pick it up themselves, but both just had surgery. They would be lost without the pantry, she said, because groceries have gotten so expensive.

“I have people who are hungry,” Warman-Stallings said. “It comes in handy for people who are already low-income to begin with.”

A line of cars snaked around the gravel lot, steadily streaming in for a few hours. Aloha Gerbes has been volunteering for about 10 years with the mobile pantries. She takes the names and information of each person in line.

When she walks up to a car, chances are she already knows the person inside. She’s been doing this a long time.

She said clients sometimes tear up seeing the food they are getting for no charge without having to give more than just basic household information.

Hannah Gerard, the operations specialist for United Way of Central Missouri, said they typically serve about 250-300 families at each pantry.

The semi-truck came with 315 produce boxes that were packed by volunteers back in Columbia. Their contents vary depending on what the food bank receives, but the boxes that day contained food such as eggs, apples, pineapples and bananas. Each box also came with a protein, which was frozen chicken or sausage.

Katie Adkins, the director of communication and marketing for the food bank, said they give out produce boxes based on family size.

Marian Bridges, a volunteer, said six months ago they were only receiving about 180 produce boxes at this pantry.

The increase in need is not specific to Jefferson City, though, and Adkins said she has heard many people say it is because of higher prices for bills and gas cutting into their food budget.

“We’re serving about 13,500 more people across our service area than we were at this time last year,” Adkins said.

The food bank receives funding and food through the government, donations, and grants, according to Adkins.

They have also recently had to buy some food because of a decrease in donations, likely caused by the pandemic and inflation, Adkins said.

“We’ve seen donations going down more recently. And so we’ve purchased a lot more food than we have in the past,” Adkins said.

She said the food bank is spending three times more money on food than they were pre-pandemic. In order to continue meeting the need, Adkins said they are doing a little bit of everything and trying to be flexible and source their food in creative ways.

She said it is challenging, but they are trying to distribute food as efficiently as possible to get it to people who need it most. When they see an increased need in one area, she said they try to get food there and limit efforts where it is not as needed.

“It’s all just trying to make sure that we get the right food in the right place at the right time,” Adkins said.

They are also connecting with the community and their donors about how valuable their time is when they volunteer. She said a $25 donation can provide at least 100 meals because of their ability to buy in bulk.

The food bank also runs programs like buddy packs for kids, veterans’ boxes and senior boxes.

Within a few short hours at the mobile pantry, the boxes piled on the folding tables were gone, but the cars kept coming. Some got the remaining extra sausages, but no produce box. The last left empty handed, having come too late.