New mobile food pantry offering free, fresh groceries to community in need
A free mobile food pantry program began Thursday, bringing fresh and free groceries twice a month to those in need near the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Neighborhood in Palm Springs.
The program is a collaborative effort between Palm Springs City Council and FIND Food Bank.
“The reaction today seems pretty positive…a lot of people were in need. We fed a lot of families it looks like,” said Deiter Crawford, Vice-President, Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community Action Association.
Dozens of people were seen lining up to take advantage of the program, located at the James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center.
“We passed out potatoes, apples, celery, bananas…a bag with rices, and macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti sauce and eggs and shoot…this is a blessing for a lot of people including myself,” said Dixie Miller, resident and volunteer.
The new mobile food pantry program offers 20-35 pounds of nutritious food to each family showing up at no cost.
“We realized that there weren’t many fresh food options in the area so we began to advocate to the city of Palm Springs,” said Crawford.
The City of Palm Springs is fully funding the bi-monthly program after it was brought to their attention that families in the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Neighborhood don’t have a grocery store nearby.
“It’s really hard if you don’t have a car to go to a grocery store…and get groceries. So they’re all getting about 300 people each time…and we had a great turnout tonight…people really appreciate it,” said Geoff Kors, Mayor pro tem, city of Palm Springs.
For residents in the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Neighborhood, the closest grocery store is about 2.6 miles away. And for many relying on public transportation, just the simple task of getting fresh food for the family can become costly and inconvenient.
“I’ve heard clients today making references that they’re so grateful and thankful for this…that they’ve been waiting quite some time to have a grocery store and they’re just lucky to have access to food,” said Lorena Marroquin, Director of Community Impact, FIND Food Bank.
FIND Food Bank says they’ll also be offering medical, mental health and financial referrals to those on scene.
“Especially with students going back to school…parents budgets are a little bit tight so it helps out,” added Marroquin.
The pantry will be operating the second and fourth Thursday of every month from 5:30-6:30 p.m. City Council added they’ll be continuing their work to bring a closer grocery store to the area, but they hope this assists residents in the meantime.
