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Mobile food pantries roll out to schools in Granite School District

Oct 21, 2020 03:05PM ● By Darrell Kirby

The Granite Education Foundation has introduced Rolling Foods Pantries to help Granite School District schools address the food needs of underprivileged students. (Courtesy Granite Education Foundation)

By Darrell Kirby | [email protected]

A little more than half of the students in the Granite School District qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, an indication that accessibility to affordable, nutritious food is a problem for them and their families. 

To address that growing need in Utah’s third-largest school district, the Granite Education Foundation is rolling out its new Rolling Food Pantries. 

The pantries are large cage-like carts stocked with mostly ready-made meals and food staples for students deemed by school principals to need them because of family finances and other challenges at home. 

The mobile pantries are prepared for 23 schools each month and their contents are distributed to students and families as needed. “They’re guaranteed that every month they receive a full rolling cage,” said Kim Oborn, program and allocations coordinator for GEF. “There’s a lot of need in these schools.” Five more schools are expected to join the program in January.

The Rolling Food Pantries don’t replace but instead supplement existing in-school pantries, which Oborn estimates are already serving about 5,000 of Granite’s 67,000 students, most of whom live in West Valley City. “The principals feel such a weight on their shoulders to ensure that their kids have the basic needs so that they can focus on learning and academics.” 

The rolling pantries contain dinner, snack, and hygiene kits and a supply of food to get students through the weekend. The food is assembled and loaded on carts at a GEF warehouse. 

The program is made possible by community donations and grants. Most of the kits are put together by local businesses as part of their community-service efforts and by other volunteer groups. “We’re ready for the school year. We have enough kits to get us by,” Oborn said. 

The nonprofit Granite Education Foundation works with the school district, business, community, and other not-for-profit organizations to advance the academic achievement of students and help them build a foundation for future success in higher education, careers and life.