Feeding America gears up for first mobile food pantry of the year
The Ishpeming branch of Feeding America West Michigan was getting ready all morning and afternoon for Thursday’s mobile food pantry.
It’s the first mobile pantry of the year and one of the big concerns is having those who come standing out in the cold. To ensure that there isn’t a mass of people waiting when they first open the food pantry has various windows of time for people to arrive based on last name.
“We try to run them through as fast as possible so they don’t have to sit out there too long,” said Danny Kendall, a Feeding America volunteer. “If everybody goes by the alphabet like they’re supposed to then there’s not 60 or 70 people in line. The first wave is usually a lot of people standing out there for quite a while.”
There are three separate windows at tomorrow’s pantry, the first opening at 10 a.m. Those with last names A through H are asked to arrive then. Last names I through P should arrive at 11:30 and Q through Z beginning at 1.
Those who do end up waiting outside will have a bit of a reprieve as the temperature is expected to get into the 30s.