On the fourth Saturday of each month, families and individuals come from all over Johnston County to the parking lot at Praise Temple Apostolic Faith Church in Clayton, NC to receive boxes of non-perishable food items, meat, baked goods, and fresh produce. Volunteers help to unload the pallets of food from the truck that delivers them from Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, organize them, and then load the boxes into the trunks and back seats of cars as they drive through the receiving line. For many, this is one of their main sources of food during this critical time as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our communities and wreak havoc on our economy. Sometimes, people wait for hours for the opportunity to drive through line of the Mobile Market to ensure that their family will have access to the nutritious food that is given out free of charge. Joanna was just one of the people who came to the Praise Temple Mobile Market in fall 2020.
Joanna lives on a 27-acre farm in Johnston County, but still lacks food to feed her family. The irony of this situation is not lost on her. “I am in dire straits. I am humble. I’ve worked hard my whole life and have never had any assistance from anyone.” Joanna is a former educator and her husband is an educator still. When asked what it means to be able to get the food that is available at the Mobile Market, Joanna says, “It means that me and my family will be able to eat this week. Without Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, I’m not real sure where I would be—probably in a hospital on a feeding tube. This is not child’s play.”
The food that Joanna received would go home with her to her family of four adults and her 76-year-old mother, as it does each time she visits the Mobile Market. “The last time I came here was four weeks ago. I was crying. I was in shambles. I’m not that way today. But without these people here, my community—my family—would not be eating.”
The complete list of Food Shuttle Mobile Markets is updated monthly and is available on the website in English and Spanish.
