Riverside High School’s mobile food pantry provides groceries for over 500 Borderland families

The El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank is the only food distributor for over 120 pantries across the El Paso area.

School mobile pantries are a big part of the food bank’s success. Riverside High School is one of the largest school mobile pantries the food bank has.

For Ana Holguin, Riverside HIgh School’s Parent liasan, her dream of having a food pantry on campus became a reality after she reached out to the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger for advice.

“Robert Maldonado, the mobile pantry coordinator, came and asked us if we wanted to service families here. We talked to our principal and said yes lets do this,” said Holguin.

The school’s mobile food pantry started servicing 300 families and now services over 500 families in the area.

Families in the community are notified about the school mobile pantry through emails, texts, flyers that are sent out and the schools marquees also display information on when the pantries will be available at the school.

Those interested in receiving groceries from the mobile pantry are only required to bring an ID with an El Paso address, plenty of bags and a cart to carry the 80 pounds of groceries the food bank provides.

“They provide canned foods, vegetables, bags of beans, rice. They have given watermelons, oranges, and pork loins. It’s a good variety of groceries that’s provided for our families,” said Holguin.

Students, staff and other local volunteers set up tables and help distribute the groceries to each family.

“It’s a great way for them to service their community,” said Holguin.

School mobile pantries are an easier way for those in the community to get access to food that otherwise would not be available to them.

“It helps them also with their income. They know they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is gonna come from,” said Holguin.

You can donate to El Pasosans Fighting Hunger Food Bank at the pinpad at any Albertsons register in the area.

100% of the money you donate will go to the food bank.

KVIA 2019