/ Modified jan 13, 2022 11:29 a.m.

New mobile food bank plies Tucson neighborhoods

The new refrigerated truck brings directly to the neighborhoods that need it most.

ics mobile food bank Interfaith Community Services' new mobile food bank.
Interfaith Community Services

Interfaith Community Services is rolling out a new mobile food bank on Tucson's streets.

Tim Kromer with ICS says transportation — or lack of it — can be a big hurdle for those who need their services most.

“This mobile food bank allows us to jump that hurdle and get directly to people where they live,” he says.

But Kromer says what makes the truck unique is that it has both refrigerator and freezer space.

"We can bring frozen meats, dairy, refrigerated produce in addition to the dry goods, canned goods, pastas, rice, those things that you typically get at a traditional food bank,” he says.

Kromer says the organization's connection with both the Food Bank of Southern Arizona, coupled with data from the Census and the University of Arizona School of Anthropology, helps them focus on where the need is greatest.

But he says it is their relationships with local faith communities that make it all possible

"The partnerships we have with faith communities have allowed us to use their parking lots and volunteers so that we can go into communities that people trust, so that we have immediate buy-in to those communities," he says

The truck always returns empty, having distributed all the food at each destination.

Kromer says the success of the mobile food bank has other neighborhoods asking for service, and has raised discussion of the need for a second truck

For times and locations, you can visit the ICS website, ICSTucson.org.

interfaith community services mobile food bank Interfaith Community Services' mobile food bank.
Interfaith Community Services
MORE: Food, News, Tucson
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona