Interfaith Community Services' new mobile food bank.
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.
VIEW LARGER Interfaith Community Services' mobile food bank. 
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