Mobile Food Pantry to Hit Wis. Rapids on May 17
For the City Times
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The Neighborhood Table, a free community meal program, and the South Wood Emerging Pantry Shelf (SWEPS) have again partnered with Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin to bring another mobile food pantry to Wisconsin Rapids.
The three organizations are also pleased to announce that Aspirus Riverview Foundation has joined the collaborative effort by providing funding for this mobile pantry as well as others to be held during the year. The first mobile food pantry will be held Wednesday, May 17, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm in the south parking lot of the United Methodist Church, 441 Garfield Street, Wisconsin Rapids.
“Both Terri Rapp, chairperson of SWEPS, and I are proud that Aspirus Riverview Foundation stepped up to the plate to provide the funding to continue the much needed mobile pantries for our community in 2017, especially in light of the direct linkage between hunger and health issues,” said Dale Bikowski of TNT. “On average, each mobile pantry serves about 400 households with about 50 lbs. of food, reaching about 1,200 people in total. We will announce the additional dates for the mobile pantries as we work out the details.”
This mobile food pantry will be handled in the same manner as the pantries held last year. Participants are to:
• Preregister by selecting an available time slot at http://www.theneighborhoodtable.org or call 715-422-2050 weekdays between the hours of 8:30 am to 11:30 am.
• Show proof of south Wood County residency via a current driver’s license or recent utility bill.
• Qualify for any of the various food assistance programs such as SNAP/Food Share/Quest, free and reduced lunches, WIC, etc.
• Participants are asked to bring sturdy containers for the food they will be given.
• On day of event, participants should come to the pantry no earlier than their confirmed time slot. This is to avoid traffic congestion that has occurred in the past.
• Those who come to the pantry without being preregistered will be turned away and asked to come back after 4 pm to get food if it is still available.
Details of this and future mobile food pantries will be promoted on The Neighborhood Table’s Facebook page, www.theneighborhoodtable.org as well as the Facebook page of SWEPS of Wisconsin Rapids and www.swepspantry.org