Each month roughly 300 family groups, representing roughly 1,100 individuals, are served when the Denton Mobile Pantry rolls through the First Baptist Denton parking lot.
“Every second Saturday my heart just overflows with gratitude at the number of families we are able to help,” said Jolene Seabourn, Co-Facilitator of the Denton Hunger Coalition which hosts the event. “And I don’t think that I could put my finger on a particular event (that she is proud of) other than that Saturday rolling around every month where we get to give to the community.”
The Denton Hunger Coalition is a community volunteer organization that also hosts meetings every second Thursday. These meetings are open to the public, including students interested in networking with the organizations and individuals that gather to coordinate hunger relief in Denton County.
“We want to tackle hunger,” said Paul Juarez, Executive Director of First Refuge, a participating organization in the Denton Hunger Coalition. “If people are hungry we want to make sure they are taken care of, and so we will partner to make sure that nobody in Denton goes hungry.”
Juarez said that both the Denton Mobile Pantry and First Refuge, which hosts a food pantry and many other services, are both within walking distance from UNT.
“The mobile food pantry is a well-oiled machine,” Juarez said. “It runs like clockwork.”
But to run like clockwork the pantry needs 70 to 75 volunteers each second Saturday. Volunteers can show up early to set up or arrive a little later to help while the mobile pantry is in operation, Seabourn said. Set up volunteers have to be able to lift heavy objects and arrive early to begin setting up tables. Frenchy’s Lawn and Tree Service stores and then delivers them each month.
More information about volunteering and receiving food from the Denton Mobile Pantry and other food pantries in the area can be found online at www.servedenton.org/mobile-food-pantry/
The next Denton Mobile Pantry is scheduled for 9 to 11 a.m., Saturday, March 10 at 1100 Malone St, Denton.
Recipients are helped through the line at the Denton Mobile Pantry, Oct. 27, 2017
Photo credit: Denton Hunger Coalition Facebook page.
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