JACKSONVILLE, Texas — The East Texas Food Bank is opening a new mobile pantry on the second Tuesday of every month with fresh produce in Jacksonville.
It will be open from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., beginning July 11, at the Jacksonville ISD John Alexander Gymnasium located at 811 Farnsworth Street.
“Cherokee County has a great need for food assistance as 13.5% of the residents, including 2,490 children, are food insecure according to the latest data from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap,” said David Emerson, CEO of the East Texas Food Bank.
The new mobile pantry is the first one of it's kind in Cherokee County. Besides fresh produce, the distribution will also offer meat, with help from the T.L.L. Temple Foundation.
The mobile pantry is also fostering a new collaboration between ETFB and Special Health Resources of Texas.
The group has been providing mobile health services to the community at distribution events in Tyler, Longview and Daingerfield and will now add Jacksonville to that list.
In 2022, ETFB distributed over 560,000 pounds of produce in the Cherokee County.
Special programs will also be offered to help seniors with a monthly box of food while children receive backpacks of food through their school.
The drive-through mobile pantry will be open to anyone needing food. There is no ID requirements.