Utah Food Bank’s newest program, Mobile School Pantry, complements both school meal programs and our other childhood hunger programs. It provides a cost-effective food distribution point for children and their families at the end of the school day in a safe and trusted environment—the school playground.
Each month during the school year, our truck arrives on the school property where Utah Food Bank staff and volunteers assist students and their parents as they sign in and receive food. The amount of food distributed varies depending on the availability of donated and purchased foods. We attempt to provide as many healthy items as possible.
Mobile School Pantry deliveries are only available to the students of that school and their families and are completely free to the schools and their families in need. The growth and impact of this program has been astounding—last year, through distribution at 85 school sites, we reached 336,414 individuals, 195,655 of whom were children.
The Mobile School Pantry program approaches childhood hunger with the understanding that children are only truly protected from the pain and anxiety of hunger when their whole family has enough food to stay healthy. This approach makes the Mobile School Pantry program especially effective. Teachers and school administrators report that this holistic approach creates better educational environments and a stronger sense of community among the student body and their families.
A heartfelt thanks goes out to all the 2020-2021 Mobile School Pantry sponsors:
AARP Utah | Elevated Retirement Group | Smith’s Food & Drug Stores | |
Alliance Data | EY | Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation | |
American Express | Fidelity Investments | Sysco Intermountain | |
Anonymous | Gerald Hawkins Family | TAB Bank | |
Arby’s Foundation | Grace Lutheran Church | The CarMax Foundation | |
Bergeson Family | Harmons | The Leavitt Group | |
Campbell Companies | O.C. Tanner Company | The Pulmonary Team | |
C.R. England | Pride Transport | Tracy Christman | |
Crump Life Insurance | PwC | University of Utah Health | |
Cyprus Credit Union | Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah | Wells Fargo Foundation | |
Discover | Rio Tinto | ||
Dominion Energy | Rocky Mountain Power Foundation | ||
Edwards Lifesciences | S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney Foundation | ||
If you or your business are interested in sponsoring a Mobile School Pantry, please contact Lavine Shapiro at (801) 887-1221 or [email protected].