Food on the go

The Roadrunner Food Bank's 'mobile pantry' offers relief to hunger and the compounding hardship of escalating gas prices.

Roadrunner Food Bank's new mobile food pantry. (Photos by Denise Tessier)

ALBUQUERQUE -- A semi-trailer truck labeled "Mobile Food Pantry" rolled out of the Roadrunner Food Bank Wednesday to deliver fresh produce and staples to its first delivery stop: the off-the-grid community of Pajarito Mesa on the city's far West Side -- "opening a world of possibility in reaching hungry people," in the words of the food bank's director.

Pastor Larry Scott of the Pajarito Mesa Community Church of the Nazarene was on hand for its arrival. "We were very pleased with how it went," Scott told the New Mexico Independent.

Having the state's first-ever mobile pantry will be a "transformational experience" for both the food recipients and the food bank, predicted Roadrunner Food Bank Director Melody Wattenbarger before the program's launch Wednesday. Having a mobile pantry removes some of the barriers in terms of food delivery, which is essential to meet the needs of  "growing numbers of the working poor," she said.

Melody Wattenbarger, left, and Lydia Ashanin prepare for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch the state's first mobile food pantry.

"These are some of the most challenging times we have ever faced in our 28-year history," Wattenbarger said. "Challenging times call for new ways of doing business. This is one of the ways."

Scott said 63 families had signed up to receive the morning's first delivery. Distribution --  from truck pallets to tables set up by the church -- was a "very orderly" process that took about an hour. About a dozen church volunteers, including the pastor, divvied up the food using a sample distribution list provided by Roadrunner.

The church had told the families to bring their own baskets or bags, and many showed up with laundry baskets. Each received 10 pounds of potatoes, three loaves of bread -- in all, about 50 pounds of food each, according to Scott.

"They did a great job in putting it together for us," Scott said of Roadrunner, and the church has already decided to do it again on July 16. "It's a great opportunity for us to team with the Roadrunner to reach a community that's really hard to reach," Scott said. Many of the families "don't even know each other; in a sense, it's a very private community," he said.

A second delivery was scheduled to arrive Wednesday afternoon at the Corrales Seventh-day Adventist Church.

'Terrible choices'

"There are 100,000 people in New Mexico we're not reaching," Wattenbarger said just before the launch Wednesday. "Those 100,000 people keep me awake at night."

Wattenbarger said one in six New Mexicans must make "terrible choices" every day: whether to buy food, buy much-needed medicine, pay the rent or, increasingly, put gas in the family car to get to work.

"I'm hearing that more and more people are running out of gas" and are unable to refill their vehicles once it's gone, she said.
 

Roadrunner's food bank partners around the state report a 30 to 40 percent increase in need, she added, "a figure that continues to grow every day."

With the advent of the mobile pantry, families will take home nutritious food directly from the truck, with no middle man, "and they don't have to put $4-a-gallon gas in their car to get it. It comes to them."

The truck will deliver hard-to-get fresh produce and other perishables, like milk and eggs. Trucks will be on the road six days a week to reach those who live where there is often no gas station or grocery store.

Taking the Program Further

Meanwhile, Art Fine, who is director of programs at Roadrunner, said his agency is talking to the University of New Mexico's Department of Family Community Medicine about partnering with each other and with Blue Cross/Blue Shield to bring health care delivery, such as immunizations, to rural communities at the same time. A pilot program is under discussion. "It could be a great marriage," Fine said.

Lydia Ashanin, president of Roadrunner's board of directors and director of corporate community involvement for Health Care Service Corporation, read a letter during the ceremony from Lt. Gov. Diane Denish that said, in part:

"It is wrong for anyone to be hungry in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is a reality. ... Without the kindness and motivation of the people at Roadrunner Food Bank many would go hungry. That can mark the difference (between) life and death. I commend you for all that you do."

 
The Mobile Food Pantry is available to communities in nine New Mexico counties, including Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Eddy, Lincoln, Sandoval, Socorro, Torrance and Valencia.

Groups, businesses and individuals are invited to sponsor one or more Mobile Food Pantry sites. “Scheduling the Mobile Pantry is easy," Wattenbarger said in an informational release:

 "A sponsoring organization simply has to find a location with good parking in their community, let the community know it is arriving, and find volunteers to help distribute the food. Roadrunner Food Bank takes care of getting it to the community in need.”  

For more information or to schedule a Mobile Pantry visit, contact Roadrunner Food Bank at 1-505-247-2052.

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