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SALT LAKE CITY -- An all-new mobile pantry is helping the Utah Food Bank aid the needy in ways it couldn't before. The truck made its first stop today and will be used to deliver nearly 800,000 meals over the next year.
Up until now, the Utah Food Bank hasn't had an actual mobile pantry. If they needed to reach more rural communities they typically just bring a semi-truck, filled with boxes of food and supplies. Now, they say the new pantry will make that process easier and better for families in need.
It started with a ribbon-cutting, and then the boxes of food were unloaded, ready for people with limited access to the necessities of life.
People like Brad McElhinney, who is on permanent disability. He and his dog Grace got some much needed aid from the mobile pantry's inaugural stop
"I was gonna have to buy some eggs and milk. Didn't really have the money," McElhinney said. "I didn't expect them to have this much stuff."
Folks at the Utah Food Bank say the pantry will allow them to serve people in ways they couldn't before by getting them in to more rural areas, as well as neighborhoods where the help may not be readily available. The refrigerated compartments also give families more options, allwing them to bring in fresh produce and dairy products that they couldn't before
For Virginia Alamon, its resources like this that keep her kids from going hungry.
"It's very good stuff for the kids, and for everyone in the family," she said.
The Utah Food Bank plans to deliver more than a million pounds of food with the mobile pantry over the next yea, during a time when the need for emergency help is up about forty percent from last year. That little bit of help is something McElhinney says he depends on - making him all the more grateful.
"I'm on disability. I don't get very much money, and the money's gone after I pay my bills," he said That new mobile pantry is one of 25 in the U.S. It was brought to Utah through a grant, as well as donations from Kraft Foods. Volunteers will help run the pantry as is travels around the state.
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