Tri-City Exchange seeks help after refrigerated trailer goes out
Jul 26, 2024, 11:00 PM
NORTH OGDEN — The founder of the Tri-City Exchange said Friday that his food pantry needed a new refrigerated trailer after a donated one broke down over Pioneer Day.
Founder Mike Larson said he had already made “thousands upon thousands” of dollars worth of repairs to the trailer this year before the latest problem.
“It lost all of its freon and we lost about half of what we had in it,” Larson said.
The broken-down trailer needs to be replaced. (KSL TV)
He said a temporary fix is now in place, but the clock is ticking to find a replacement trailer, and he believes he doesn’t have long to do so.
Larson said a company offered to replace the poundage of meat affected over the holiday, but he hoped to connect with those who could help him find a new refrigerated trailer.
“It’s on its last leg,” Larson said of the current trailer. “The companies that have something we could use, I can’t reach. I’m hoping we can reach the right person that can call me and say I will sell you one; I’ll donate one, I’ll let you use one—something to keep us going because it is our lifeblood.”
Larson founded the food pantry during the COVID-19 pandemic as a more efficient way to feed those in need.
“There was no food on the shelf, and we wanted to help,” he said.
Since that time, Larson said the need has only increased amid soaring inflation.
On a “Community Day” like Friday, Larson said the exchange helps between 1,600 and 1,900 families, from the poor to the strapped middle class.
“We’ll just have people come through crying and just so happy that we give them food,” said volunteer Shelece Simon.
Founder Mike Larson welcoming people to his food pantry. (KSL TV)
Simon said the challenge with the trailer makes following through on the exchange’s mission that much more difficult.
“It seems like we get ahead and start getting lots of donations, and then something breaks down, and we keep kind of having these little mishaps that set us back,” she said.
Larson hoped the help he sought would arrive in time as his organization continued to give families a hand-up.
“If somebody needs help, by God, we need to step up and be part of it,” he said.
