By NICK YAMASHITA
The Progress
The monthly Mobile Food Pantry, coordinated by the Moapa Valley Revitalization Project (MVRP) along with a host of local volunteers, has been going strong since 2016. But it has recently been given a shot in the arm by a growing program started by a local business.
“We really could not have done the food bank lately without Lin’s Marketplace help,” stated MVRP member Larry Griffith.
Griffith has been coordinating mobile food pantry events each month at Grant Bowler Elementary in Logandale for the past several years.
“Before the pandemic, we were getting about 12,000 lbs of food brought in for the disbursement,” Griffith said. “But lately, we have only been getting about 7,000 lbs. It is the Community Food Donation program from Lin’s that has covered the lost amount.”
The Lin’s Community Food Donation program had its early beginnings in the holiday season of 2019.
For years before that, Lin’s had been hosting a holiday food collection program to help local families who needed help with holiday meals. It was then that Lin’s Store Manager Jesse Jensen had the idea of continuing the program year-round to benefit the local food bank.
“Jesse contacted me after approval from the regional manager and told me of the plans of giving the donations f to our food bank,” said Griffith. “We were overjoyed and so grateful.”
It was then that Lin’s customers noticed something new at checkout. Stacked food items perfect for donation or prebagged items ready to donate. Cashiers asked if customers would like to buy and donate these items. The program has brought in approximately 5,000-9,000 lbs of food.
Everything is coordinated through Lin’s. Records are kept, and filed with the state and federal Departments of Agriculture.
“This helps us keep better statistics, better reporting, better paperwork which all means potential for more grants, better programs to help local struggling families and individuals,” said Griffiths.
Lin’s stores the donations and then coordinates a pick-up on the third Saturday of each month. From there it goes to the Moapa Valley Food Bank with the MVRP where it stays until the monthly mobile food bank disbursement.
The program has seen huge success as the food amount delivered from Three Square has been less and the families in need have seen an increased need of over 100 units (1-2 people equal one unit) since November, Griffith said.
“The need has more than doubled and the people are still feeling the effects of the pandemic,” Griffith said. “We are still not getting it all to families who really need it, but we are trying to make people aware of it being available for them. We really could not have done it without Lin’s program and the residents and visitors of Moapa Valley who donate to it. Thank you!”
The next monthly food bank disbursement is Saturday, June 19 starting at 7 am at Grant Bowler Elementary School located at 1415 West Whipple Avenue in Logandale. The line goes down Lyman Street. Vehicles start lining up around 4:30 am.
MVRP is also in need of volunteers to come and help at about 6:00 am. For more information contact MVRP by calling (702) 347-7158, email mvrp@themvrp.org or visit www.themvrp.org,
