Volunteers recently sent neighbors away with boxes of nutritious food and bright smiles at Discovering Christ Church in Muskegon. This mobile food pantry, coordinated by Walter Hayes, is a monthly distribution supplying nutritious food to Muskegon and the surrounding areas. In addition, this pantry offers attendants a flyer detailing information about other resources. This includes dates, times, and locations for more mobile food pantries in the area, information on emergency food services, local baby pantries, and more.
With a population of 175,138, Muskegon County’s food insecurity rate in 2023 was 15.2 percent, roughly 1 in 7 individuals. To combat the adversity experienced by Muskegon neighbors, the mobile food pantry was packed with nutritious foods like potatoes, rice, peaches, plums, grapes, yogurt, corn, and mushrooms. Around 30 volunteers worked hard to distribute nearly 6,000 pounds of food as quickly as they could to 180 households, or a total of 407 neighbors.
Neighbors seem pleased with the variety of offerings, underscoring their appreciation of the quality of produce and vegetables—and the occasional baked goods.
“The produce is very good, very good,” said Nancy, a retiree in attendance. “I’ve never had anything bad.”
A Muskegon couple who chose to remain anonymous echoed similar sentiments.
“The food that we get has been pretty good,” they said. “The fruit and milk, the juice and veggies. Veggies are the big thing. Getting tomatoes and stuff like that is a big help. We don’t have to go to the grocery store. Medication and everything is on the rise. And groceries and gas. And everything else. Every little bit helps.”
Providing resources with compassion and respect
When neighbors were asked about how this resource has impacted their lives, several cited this mobile food pantry’s importance in the face of rising costs.
“It helps a lot,” Nancy said. “[It] really helps, especially with the prices going up all the time and stuff like that, and the food that they give out is very good. It’s very important. I know a lot of people that come here, they don’t have anything else.”
For distributions like the one at Discovering Christ Church, it’s about even more than providing food to their neighbors. It’s about doing so in a way that shows neighbors they’re a part of a community that cares about their well-being. It’s about compassion and respect, and leaving everyone with the most positive experience.
“Everybody’s so helpful and so kind,” Nancy said. “And it helps everybody. With the cost of living going up all the time and all that stuff, you’ve got to help people.”