Mobile Pantry

The goal of Mobile Pantry is to reach out to churches and organizations that are unable to take advantage of services offered to regular food partners. Any non-profit agency may receive a tractor-trailer load or half load at a minimal delivery fee. The trailer will contain canned food, personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies, and dairy and fresh produce when it is available.

Second Harvest will generally drop the loaded trailer on a Friday at a central location, then pick up the empty trailer on the following Monday. This allows the organization time to unload and distribute the items without time pressure. Non-profit agencies may order a Mobile Pantry for a delivery fee of $800 for a full-load of product (12-18,000 pounds), or a half-load (8-10,000 pounds) for $400.

Second Harvest covers the majority of the cost associated with the purchase/collection of food, fuel and staff for Mobile Pantry delivery. The actual cost of a Mobile Pantry full-load, for Second Harvest is $2,500. If you or your business is interested in sponsoring a Mobile Pantry delivery please call us at 865-521-0000.

This year we will make 100 Mobile Pantry deliveries to 30 sites in 11 counties, delivering about 950,000 meals to hungry East Tennesseans. Click here for a Mobile Pantry Brochure

If your hunger-relief program is interested in partnering with Mobile Pantry, please contact Zane Graves, Vice President of Operations.  Click here to download a Mobile Pantry application.

 

What is important about Mobile Pantry and Rural Route

For many people in rural East Tennessee, these programs are a real relief in a time of need. With gas prices rising, many people cannot afford to leave their local communities to seek help. Likewise, non-profit organizations located in rural areas often do not have the funds or equipment necessary to travel to Knoxville to pick up food for the hungry in their community. These programs solve this problem by traveling to the area where help is needed and unloading thousands of pounds of food at a local hunger-relief agency. 

 

Rural Route

Many agency food partners are located in outlying areas. They have limited staff and resources and are unable to pick up food at our warehouse. Second Harvest makes regular, scheduled deliveries to these areas for a maximum delivery fee of $125.

Food partners can place an order by phone or fax. The product is pulled from the shelves and loaded onto one of our trucks for delivery.

This year Rural Route will make 150 deliveries to 13 sites in 10 East Tennessee countires, delivering more than 1 million meals to hungry East Tennesseans. Click here for a Rural Route Brochure

"Our food pantry could not operate without the Rural Route program. The food that comes in helps us keep our doors open and feed more people." – Rural Route site coordinator

If your food pantry is interested in participating in Rural Route, please contact Zane Graves, Vice President of Operations.