The Food Bank of the Albemarle and Perdue Farms collaborated on a special mobile food pantry on Thursday, November 13th, in Cofield, NC. The mobile pantry served 273 families with boxes of shelf-stable goods, fresh produce, and protein.
Food Bank of the Albemarle serves 15 counties in Northeastern North Carolina, in partnership with more than 100 hunger-relief partners to help meet the needs of neighbors seeking food assistance. Hertford County, where the Cofield mobile pantry was held, has more than 3,660 neighbors who are food insecure, including 1,280 children. Mobile pantries help meet the needs of area residents who live in rural areas where access to a traditional food pantry is limited.
“Some of the challenges our rural neighbors experience are a lack of transportation and access to healthy, affordable foods,” said Justine Köksal, Director of Programs at Food Bank of the Albemarle. “We’re really happy to be here in Cofield in partnership with Perdue to provide lean protein (chicken), as well as produce and boxes of shelf-stable food for our neighbors.”
This event served community members, including area farmers, seniors, children, and families at a time when rising costs of groceries, housing, and utilities are stretching budgets thin.
“I’m on a fixed income now; I’m retired,” said a neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous. “Things are a little different now that I’m not working. When I heard about the food pantry today, I thought, ‘I can use this’. When I’m grocery shopping, things have gone up tremendously, and some things you just can’t buy now when you used to could buy most things you wanted. I’m just grateful to be here and grateful for Perdue doing this (mobile) today.”
Other neighbors shared the challenges of living on a fixed income while costs rise. “The cost of everything is so high,” said May. “Groceries, housing, and insurance, taxes; it’s all a lot of cost on my fixed income. I’m on social security and that only goes so far. Getting this food today really helps.”
Perdue associates in Cofield gave their time to assist with the distribution, by directing traffic, unpacking product, and loading donated food into vehicles during the mobile pantry. Perdue also contributed a donation of protein for the distribution, which is a welcome addition to food distributions, and one of the most requested items.
“At Perdue, we believe that no one should go hungry. That’s why our partnership with the Food Bank of the Albemarle and our support of their mission to end hunger is so important,” said Bill See, Senior Manager of Community Relations for Perdue Farms. “We’re thrilled to deliver a little hope with our nutritious protein to our neighbors in Eastern North Carolina who are struggling with food insecurity.”
