Last Thursday, a truck pulled into the Hope United Methodist Church parking lot with 5,000 pounds of food, ready to feed those in need.

The Edwardsburg Food Pantry has partnered with Feed America and the United Way of Southwest Michigan to provide a mobile pantry for Edwardsburg residents. A mobile pantry is a sponsored food pantry that pops up for a fixed time to provide those in need with items like fresh produce that are unloaded out of a large truck. The number of items distributed to each person depends on the size of family for which they are providing.

“[The mobile pantry] is a really great program,” said Stan Mason, an Edwardsburg Food Pantry staff member and the organizer of the mobile pantry.

On July 13, the Edwardsburg Food Pantry kicked off a series of four mobile pantries that will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Aug. 8, Sept. 12 and Oct. 10 in the Hope United Methodist Church parking lot.

Fifty-two families attended and participated in the first mobile pantry of the year. Nearly all 5,000 pounds of food were donated that day, something which Mason was excited about.

“It went really well,” Mason said. “We were able to help a lot of people.”

Mason described the mobile pantries as a way to supplement the what the Edwardsburg Food Pantry already does, particularly by providing fresh produce that can be difficult for the Edwardsburg Food Pantry to provide on its own, due to cost. For example, he said the food pantry looked into providing bags of potatoes for every family that came into the pantry, but the plan was too expensive to execute. However, by partnering with the United Way of Southwest Michigan and Feed America for the pop-up mobile pantries, the Edwardsburg Food Pantry is able to provide those in need not only with potatoes, but all kinds of foods the pantry cannot afford on its own.

“We’re really lucky because we live in kind of a farming area, so [the mobile pantry] is able to provide people with better products that will hopefully be leading them to a healthier lifestyle,” Mason said. “We really want to make things better for people in need.”

For Mason, working the mobile pantry is more than just his job. It is a way for him to connect with those in need.

“It gives you a whole different view about what life really is,” Mason said. “Even though things have improved here in Michigan, there are still people with great needs.”

It is this connection that drives Mason to work hard to help organize the mobile pantries, as well as other events and programs the Edwardsburg Food Pantry puts on.

“The mobile pantry is just a small part of what we do,” Mason said. “The work we do is important, and we want people to see that and recognize the need that is there.”

To participate in upcoming mobile pantries, an individual must meet The Emergency Food Assistance Program requirement income eligibility guidelines, live in the Edwardsburg Public School District and have two pieces of identification for verification of their residency.

The main office of the Edwardsburg Food Pantry is located at Our Lake of the Lake, 24832 U.S. Highway 12, Edwardsburg. The office is open from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

For more information regarding the pantry or how you can donate, contact Mason at stanbmason@aol.com.