Iron County mobile food pantry recognized

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Hurley - The Iron County Mobile Food Pantry has been recognized by the Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank, which gave those who operate the pantry its 2017 Volunteers of the Year award.

"Initially, Iron County was the least served in our eight-county region, and after launching our region's first mobile food pantry program here over four years ago, (the volunteers) helped us supply over 388,000 meals to hundreds of families, children and seniors throughout Iron County," Second Harvest program director Dan Wilson said.

Second Harvest is a Duluth-based nonprofit, serving northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

Along with the Iron County University of Wisconsin-Extension office employees, the Iron County Human Services Department, members of the Iron County Board of Supervisors and other volunteers work to help distribute food through the mobile food pantry.

The partnership with the mobile food pantry began in 2013, and was spearheaded by Joy Schelble, who was working at the University of Wisconsin-Extension office at the time.

"The effort was in response to listening to an Iron County elder explain how (he was) totally out of food by the end of the month, even with the support of other local and national food programs," a spokesperson said in the release.

While the mobile pantry started in the county courthouse parking lot, serving roughly 100 residents, it has since been moved to the Iron County Highway Department, where more than 500 people a month receive food in a drive-through system.

Amy Nosal, an educator with the Iron County UW-Extension office, said the mobile aspect of the pantry allows the organizers to avoid some of the overhead that more traditional pantries deal with.

"Part of the challenge, if you're a building, is you have to have the infrastructure to store food - whether it's shelf-stable or you need to be looking at coolers and what have you - so the mobile food pantry takes all of that away, and allows for food to come in from across the region," Nosal said. "So that truck, every month, comes all the way from Duluth."

The trucks delivering food are also a big part of food accessibility in the region, according to Nosal, as it allows more food to be delivered to rural counties.

There are downsides to the mobility, Nosal said, such as the difficulty in getting food closer to the southern part of the county because of regulations on how long trucks can be on the road and refrigeration issues.

A variety of food is distributed through the pantry, including fresh vegetables as often as possible.

"It's always a mix that changes, but there is always the ability to make a meal," Nosal said.

The Extension office also tries to find out what is being delivered and develops recipes that use the ingredients, which are also distributed to residents.

Iron County's food pantry has been successful enough that it led to the establishment of other mobile food pantries in the region.

"So we've been able to be a part of those conversations, and help explain how our experiences," Nosal said.

The pantry is offered to county residents the last Monday of each month.

For more information on the pantry, contact the Extension office at 715-561-2695.