After nearly two years of planning, the Eagle Church's community services team launched the Treasure Valley Mobile Food Pantry on Nov. 18, 2019. The first stop was at the Garnet Church in Wilder, Idaho.
The mobile pantry began as a dream for David and Nikko Hess, Eagle Church members. Their dream became a reality only after many months spent fundraising, finding a truck and trailer, going through three inspections, holding three training sessions and doing paperwork.
The volunteers who run the mobile pantry are learning as they go, fine-tuning their processes. The second distribution was at the Parma Church later in November. Fourteen families, representing 48 people, were served that day. One person came by bike and attached his box of food to the back, assisted by Terry Beucler, Eagle Church interim pastor.
When asked what this food source means to her, one woman said, “It makes a huge difference to us, helps us provide good food to our children. My husband works full-time, but it is difficult to feed our family without having additional sources like this. It’s so nice to have fresh fruit and vegetables to choose.”
An additional Eagle Church outreach is distributing boxes of food, as a partner with the Idaho Food Bank, to seniors at low income senior complexes. This part of the pantry began six months before getting the trailer and truck. Seniors sign up with the Idaho Food Bank, and various organizations around the Treasure Valley deliver the boxes. In addition to the food provided by the Idaho Food Bank, Eagle Adventist Community Services packages fresh fruit and vegetables for the seniors as well.
The Hesses and the Eagle Church are praying this ministry will grow. They are open to working with all churches, regardless of denomination. They feel they are doing what Christ commanded in Matthew 25: feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty. The team looks forward to serving many more communities as other churches come on board.
Many hands make the work go faster as 36 senior food boxes are loaded for delivery at three locations.
Volunteers prepare the trailer for the distribution process.
Along with nutritious food, brightly colored charts show how to balance foods for the best nutrition.
Canned goods, breads, and even refrigerated and frozen items are available as guests shop.
Fresh produce like apples, potatoes and onions is available.
Nikko Hess registers the guests.
Once the shopping is complete, volunteers help transfer food from baskets to bags or boxes.
Terry Beucler (right) holds a guest's bicycle while a box of food is secured on it.
When possible, the appliances are plugged into electricity at the distribution site, but the mobile pantry has a generator to keep the refrigerated and frozen foods at the correct temperature when it isn't near an electrical outlet.
Guests enter the trailer at the front, make their way through the "store" and exit through the back.
Volunteers prepare bags of apples, potatoes and onions to supplement the food boxes that will be distributed to seniors.
