Northern Illinois Food Bank realizes that not all of our hungry neighbors have access to food assistance due to time restraints, living situations, and lack of transportation. In realizing these unique needs, Northern Illinois Food Bank has initiated a Mobile Pantry.  With the support of The UPS Foundation, the 35-foot, refrigerated truck used as the Mobile Pantry was made possible.

What is a Mobile Pantry?

A Mobile Pantry is a traveling food pantry that delivers food directly to hungry people in need of food. The 35-foot truck carries nonperishable food, like rice, canned protein sources, pasta, and breakfast cereals, and also has refrigerated bays for fresh and frozen food, like vegetables, fruits, bread, red meat, poultry, pork, and seafood.

Clients can select food coming directly from the truck, thereby helping food pantries that lack adequate storage facilities for large quantities of food. The Mobile Pantry is also able to serve locations of concentrated need where residents may lack transportation to food assistance agencies or where agencies do not exist.

When the mobile pantry arrives at a site, volunteers place the food on tables surrounding the truck. The clients are able to "shop" around the truck, choosing items that they need.

A typical mobile pantry visit lasts 2 hours with 7,500 to 10,000 pounds of nutritious food being distributed to 100 to 300 families.  You can help your hungry neighbors by sponsoring a Mobile Pantry in your community.  Whether its your civic organization, your church, or your company, your sponsorship will go a long way to helping these families.  See first hand your sponsorship in action by volunteering to distribute food at the Mobile Pantry site.  Don't miss this rewarding experience!

In FY 2008, NIFB conducted 215 visits and distributed over 1,875,000 pounds of food to hungry neighbors!

For further information about sponsoring a mobile pantry near you, contact Agencies & Programs at 630.443.6910.