“This would allow us to connect to a lot of other families that aren’t able to come to us, we can come to where they are now,” said pantry supervisor Cheryl Cole.
Foodbank partner agencies were invited to apply to be entered into a raffle for the truck in September and Wesley Center was selected as the winner. The truck was first granted to the Foodbank in 2013 from Walmart.
Credit: Lee Alder of Foodbank Inc.
Credit: Lee Alder of Foodbank Inc.
An area that is classified as food insecure indicates that there are people living there that don’t have money for their next meal. Over 81,000 county residents struggle with food insecurity with a portion of them being children. Areas of the county are also considered food deserts meaning that residents don’t have access to fresh food and produce or grocery stores.
“Wesley Center being located on the west side of Dayton, we know that there is a lot of hunger in this community and Wesley will be able to both distribute food directly in the community, to pick up food at the back docks of local retail stores but also to come here to pick up their orders with us that they receive,” said Foodbank spokeswoman Lee Alder.
Wesley Community Center CEO Shawn Kerley said that distributing fresh food and produce to communities supports their goal of getting communities to eat healthy and the new truck makes that possible.
On the same day, the Montgomery County commissioners donated a new truck to the Foodbank. It will be the nonprofit’s seventh truck.
“The Foodbank is incredibly grateful for Montgomery County’s continued support, which will help us achieve our vision that no one should go hungry,” said Foodbank CEO Michelle Riley. “This new truck will be used to meet the increase in demand that we’ve seen due to the pandemic by distributing food directly to Montgomery County residents through our Mobile Farmer’s Market program, and deliveries to our partner agencies.”
Over the next three years the county will have invested $237,000 to the Foodbank to fund operations for the second food distribution truck as well as pay the trucks drivers.
“Many of our citizens have lost jobs and are struggling to put food on the table during the pandemic, so we must remain committed to this important work," said Montgomery County Commissioner Judy Dodge.
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