MORGANTOWN — The third Saturday of each month, the Mountaineer Mobile Food Pantry makes its way somewhere in Monongalia County to distribute fresh food to those who might need it.
On Saturday, it pulled up in Mylan Park.
Roark Sizemore, the president of the Pantry Plus More Board, said volunteers distributed food to 180 individuals on Saturday, which will ultimately feed around 600 people.
“Something that we’re looking for now is other outdoor locations to do in different parts in the community,” Sizemore said.
Access is one of the things the program struggles with. He said for some people, getting to where the food is and getting it home can be difficult.
“We’re trying to brainstorm some different solutions for that, so if anyone in the community has anything for that, we’d love to hear from them,” he said.
He said what’s really cool about the mobile food pantry it offers fresh food which is not always available at pantries.
“Today we had chicken, we had potatoes, cabbage, eggplant, carrots, Oreos and pretzels,” he said.
The food comes from a partnership with The Mountaineer Food Bank out of Gassaway. The 18-wheel truck brings the food to the sight of the mobile food pantry then volunteers distribute it. Sizemore said it was nice that Easter fell on the same weekend as the pantry distribution.
“That’s one of the nice things. It’s on a different schedule than a lot of the pantry programs,” he said.
He said a lot of programs allow people to get food every 45 days. The mobile food bank falls in the middle of the month when people might be running short of something.
In May, the Mountaineer Mobile Food Bank will be
near the Farmer’s Market on Spruce Street.
Also Saturday a drawing was held for the First Annual Grocery Grab Raffle. The grand prize winner gets a 3-minute shopping spree for up to $1,000. Ticket proceeds benefit Pantry Plus More. The event will take place at 9 a.m. April 27 at Price Cutter.
