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Read the press release here.

Food Pantry to Roll Out Truck That Will Travel to Hungry New Yorkers

By Emily Frost | February 9, 2015 2:44pm
 The mobile food pantry would bring food to those who can't make it to the central pantry on West 86th Street. 
Mobile Food Pantry on the UWS
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UPPER WEST SIDE — A local food pantry wants to take its services on the road by rolling out a full-service food truck that will park where the neediest customers live. 

Each year, more than 42,000 families visit the food pantry run by the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, said executive director Stewart Desmond. However, there are thousands more who can't make it to the West 82nd Street center and need access to free food to supplement their family's resources, he added.

To reach people with mobility issues, including wheelchair users and the elderly, the campaign is planning to build a mobile pantry inside a truck that will eventually expand its reach to serve neighborhoods outside the Upper West Side.

The truck would travel throughout the neighborhood, stopping at NYCHA buildings and other residences where WSCAH has built relationships. But it could also make stops in Washington Heights, Inwood and The Bronx, as many families already travel from those areas to the pantry, Desmond explained.

The custom-made, refrigerated truck will have enough room for people to choose their own food and meet with a counselor, who can sign them up for city services and programs aimed at helping low-income New Yorkers.

Unlike some city pantries that give customers a predetermined allocation of food, the WSCAH pantry is set up like a grocery store so clients can select their own items during a monthly visit. Though space will be much tighter on a truck, the staff wants to replicate this "choice model" in the mobile pantry. 

“We’re envisioning a truck that can open on the sides so that people can make food choices from the street level,” said WSCAH policy director Hannah Lupien.

Lupien estimates the truck, which she's in the process of helping to design, will cost $250,000. The WSCAH is applying for funding through City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal's participatory budgeting process and for a capital grant from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

They expect to get the truck on the road sometime in 2016. In the meantime, the center is raising money to staff the truck and cover other ancillary costs, as well as meet an expected 10 percent increase in people visiting the pantry this year, Desmond noted. 

In 2014, WSCAH spent 32 percent more on food than in 2013 due to rising food costs, more people visiting the pantry, and the fact that U.S. Department of Agriculture donated less — a trend the campaign expects to continue, he added.

During the month of February, a portion of sales at Jacob's Pickles, G-Free NYC and Gastronomie 491 will go to WSCAH as part of their "Share the Love" campaign.