DENVER — Denver Public Schools (DPS) and a local nonprofit are looking to drive out hunger this school year through a mobile food pantry.
According to Hunger Free Colorado, 11% of Coloradans lack reliable access to nutritious food, and in 17% of Colorado households with children, the children are not eating enough because food is unaffordable.
The Lion Project has partnered with DPS's Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Department to create a mobile food pantry that will travel to Title I schools within the district and provide access to healthy foods.
"Well, I love this collaboration," said Aubrey Fowler, director of operations at The Lion Project. "It's really exciting because you have a lot of creatives. So, on the FACE Department, you have a lot of women who are super involved in the community and really want to give back, and so it's really fun to see our ideas come together through this relationship with FACE."
Carla Duarte, a manager with DPS's Far Northeast Community Hub, helps serve families in Denver's Montbello and Green Valley Ranch neighborhoods. The community hub offers educational programs along with support services, including a mini market where families can get groceries at zero cost.
"The community hub is here in Montbello, and we have a hub mini market inside the community hub, like every other community hub. But we saw that a lot of families don't have transportation, and it's hard for them coming all the way from Green Valley to get some groceries here at the hub," Duarte said.
To meet community members where they are, a 14-passenger bus was converted into a market on wheels. It features fresh produce, snacks, spices, and more.
- In the video below, Carla Duarte explains what type of food is carried in the mobile market.
With the school year soon starting, Duarte said the district is still working on logistics, but the mobile pantry will most likely stop in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood first.
Looking to the future, Fowler said The Lion Project will convert donated trailers from Mile Hi Companies into mobile markets to bring nutritious foods and produce to areas in need.
"Our biggest goal is to have 50 of these because, essentially, if we can get 50 of these trailers, we could eradicate food insecurity in the Denver metro area," Fowler said. "So that's our big concept and our big goal."
