Mobile pantry fights food insecurity in Summit County

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Community Action Services team is taking its food pantry on the road.

The mobile pantry will be parked in different spots around Summit County every other week because there are more hungry families there than people might expect.

The white van will roam the Wasatch Back full of donated food.

“People think of Summit County as Park City, and what we don’t think about are all the people servicing the wonderful shops and ski resorts,” Tom Hogan said.

Hogan is with the Community Action Services and Food Bank and he said there is a need.

“We have a very small partner pantry here in Kamas. It’s a closet inside of a middle school. They needed a more efficient, accessible way to help out,” Hogan said. “They’ll come in, they’ll shop, they’ll support their family, and then be able to go out.

The mobile food pantry targets families around Summit County.

“I just really felt that there was a need to have something here, including Henefer,” Robin Riches said. She serves on the Henefer town council.  “We have a lot of aging residents who find it hard to get out.”

The woman behind the wheel of the mobile food pantry, Laura Vernor said, “We’ll have fridges and freezers and produce and bread. We’re trying to operate six to eight hours a day.”

Vernor runs the mobile food pantry.

She said, “Being able to shop for themselves, just like at a grocery store. You don’t have these weird limits or somebody else picking the stuff.”

Her team says they’re seeing people who work multiple jobs.

Hogan said, “That’s not a family that isn’t trying to fix their life and their situation; that’s a family who just couldn’t make it all work.”

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The crew will stock the van.

“We want those donations as well and meet people who need what’s on these shelves,” Vernor said.

Hogan added, “Get what your family eats and uses, no matter the mileage.”

“People are so grateful,” Vernor said. “They know what it means because they’re struggling.”

The Mobile Food Pantry’s stops will be posted on social media and on the Community Action Services website.