The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is hosting Mobile Pantries in 14 locations throughout the area, bringing trucks of food to each one once per month.
Director of Client Services Casey Cowan is overseeing the operations of Mobile Pantries. She said it has established six locations in Washington County, six in Benton County, one in Carroll County, as well as one in Madison County.
“The food bank looked at a lot of our rural areas in our four county service area and knew that they had to do something to get food out to those who were having transportation issues,” Cowan said.
When they produce Mobile Pantries, the Food Bank team tries to deliver a shelf-stable box of canned goods and dry goods such as rice, beans and spaghetti. Cowan said they also provide produce, sometimes a loaf of bread, and frozen protein. Ultimately, the team tries to provide food for families for three to five days.
During the pandemic, the food bank has endured its share of setbacks. The supply chain slowed tremendously, and as a result, four-to-six week deliveries shifted to 12-15 weeks. This caused the Food Bank team to order in mass quantities at a much quicker rate. Cowan said once they got this practice down, they were able to get food out to over 160 partner agencies.
Many safety protocols had to be implemented and volunteers were not allowed into the warehouse. Cowan said because of these restraints, staff members were forced to pack boxes.
Cowan said she tries to be involved in two to four mobile pantries a month for collecting data, depending on the schedule.
Mobile Services Coordinator Blake Hawkins started out as a driver for NWA Food Bank, and now oversees every mobile pantry in Northwest Arkansas. Hawkins coordinates all mobile services.
“Our biggest one so far is Springdale,” Hawkins said. “We served over 307 households, so that was a total of 820 members or more.”
Based on the data that Cowan’s team gathers, Hawkins decides which products and which quantity to assemble. From that information, he can assess how many people are served, and which ones fall within USDA or state requirements. Hawkins then consults with another employee who helps him assemble products to load on the truck.
Hawkins assists with setup, securing and managing volunteers, and supervises every facet of mobile pantry operations.
COVID-19 has restricted most volunteers from helping out at the physical location in Springdale, but people are still able to donate and learn more by visiting the Food Bank’s website.
https://www.nwafoodbank.org/what-we-do