Elgin seniors get mobile food pantry

Diane Moore searched through tables laden with food - like canned soup, peanut butter and fresh cauliflower - and filled two bags with bread, cookies and snack bars.

Then she headed back upstairs to her apartment in Central Park Towers in Elgin.

Like many seniors who live in the affordable housing complex run by the Housing Authority of Elgin, Moore has no transportation of her own and relies on her son to take her grocery shopping. Now, she and other residents can get food at their doorstep thanks to a monthly "Fresh to You Mobile Market," a new initiative of the food pantry Food for Greater Elgin.

"I like it that it's fresh and that it comes here," Moore said. "It makes it easier."

Food For Greater Elgin Executive Director Michelle Frampton said many seniors struggle with "food insecurity" because they lack or have difficulty accessing transportation.

On Friday, pantry staff members and volunteers loaded up a truck with about 2,600 food items, set them up in a large meeting room at Central Park Tower, and served a total of 81 households, she said.

"We have always been concerned that there are people who can't get to our facility," she said. "The key component is that we provide client choice. We're set up just like a grocery store where they can choose what they want."

The monthly mobile market started in November in Elgin and will debut Jan. 27 at Gardiner Place, an affordable housing senior complex in East Dundee.

The initiative is a partnership with Senior Services Associates in Elgin, whose volunteers helped staff the first two mobile markets.

"This is really needed," said Beth McClory, chief administrative officer of Senior Services. "So many seniors are not able to get to the Food For Greater Elgin location, and this is a great help for them."

Food For Greater Elgin, 1553 Commerce Drive, serves residents of Elgin, South Elgin and East Dundee. For more information visit FoodForGreaterElgin.org or call (847) 931-9330.