Denver Public Schools (DPS) is teaming up with a local nonprofit to help fight hunger this school year. They’re introducing a mobile food pantry that will travel to Title I schools in the area.
Hunger is a big issue in Colorado. According to Hunger Free Colorado, around 11% of people here struggle to access healthy food. The situation is even worse for families with children—17% of these homes can’t afford enough to eat.
The Lion Project has joined forces with DPS’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Department. Together, they are bringing fresh, nutritious food directly to families in need. Aubrey Fowler, the operations director at The Lion Project, expressed her excitement about this collaboration, highlighting the passion of the women involved in FACE who want to give back to their community.
In neighborhoods like Montbello and Green Valley Ranch, many families face challenges getting to food sources. Carla Duarte, a manager at DPS’s Far Northeast Community Hub, noted that transportation issues often keep families away from grocery options. To address this, they’ve converted a 14-passenger bus into a mobile market filled with fresh produce, snacks, and spices.
The mobile pantry is set to launch soon, with plans to serve primarily in the Green Valley Ranch area first. Duarte is currently working out the logistics to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Fowler shared an ambitious goal: to convert donated trailers into 50 mobile markets. “If we can get 50 of these trailers, we could potentially eradicate food insecurity in the Denver metro area,” she said.
This initiative aligns with recent findings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which reported that in 2021, around 10.5% of U.S. households experienced food insecurity at some point during the year. Such statistics highlight the growing need for community-driven solutions like this mobile pantry.
Initiatives like this not only provide essential food access but also foster community spirit, bringing people together to fight a common challenge. Keeping the community engaged and informed can further enhance these efforts, as discussions unfold on social media about local food access and health.
As the school year begins, the mobile pantry represents a hopeful step toward reducing hunger in Denver, showing what can happen when organizations unite and focus on the needs of their communities.
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