MAPP Collaboration Announces Northern Illinois Food Bank Mobile Food Pantry Schedule

Four More Events Still on the List

Four specific locations in Will County will be welcoming the Northern Illinois Food Bank’s Mobile Food Pantry between now and December. The Will County MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships) Food Access Workgroup, established in October of 2017, has developed a plan to address household food insecurity in Will County. One strategy in the plan includes providing access to mobile food pantries in communities with low or no food access, and high rates of food insecurity. The Will County Health Department Medical Reserve Corps has provided an opportunity to collaborate to address the food insecurity issues in the county.

A Medical Reserve Corps grant through NACCHO (National Association of City and County Health Officials) will sponsor the mobile food pantries every other month, and work in conjunction with the MAPP Collaborative to address this vital need. The volunteer group, eager to expand their scope, looks forward to working more with the community. Thus far, four locations and dates have been determined. The list of these locations is expected to grow in the near future.

The first scheduled stop of the Northern Illinois Food Bank Mobile Food Pantry will be 10 AM to 12 Noon on Monday April 30th, at Riverwalk Homes in Joliet (350 North Broadway).

For now, the remaining three stops on the MAPP schedule are 4 to 6 PM Tuesday June 26th at Faith Movers Church in University Park (425 Exchange), 4 to 6 PM Wednesday August 15th at the Will County Health Department in Joliet (501 Ella Avenue), and 4 to 6 PM Monday December 17th at Second Place Church in Monee (6370 Emerald Parkway).

The Health Department’s Community Health Education Program Manager, Cindy Jackson, says it’s important to note that these Northern Illinois Food Bank mobile pantry stops are for all residents. “The data used by MAPP was picked to target communities with food insecurities, meaning lack of easy access to grocery stores or money to purchase food. There are no eligibility requirements. You might have the working middle class that can pay their mortgages and make their car payments, but then they have to worry about having enough food. Everyone is eligible to receive food from these mobile pantries. There are no forms to fill out, no information to provide. Just bring bags and boxes.”

Jackson says there are two simple statements that should be read by a person or family to determine if they should consider stopping by. “The first statement is: ‘Are we worried whether our food would run out before we have the money to buy more?’ The second one is: ‘The food that we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to buy more.’ If the response to either of those statements is ‘always true’ or ‘sometimes true,’ then you should come.”

For more information on the Northern Illinois Food Bank, go to https://solvehungertoday.org/.