800 families in need given free groceries at pop-up mobile market at Joliet Junior College

A pop-up mobile market in Joliet provided free groceries to 800 families in need.

The free grocery distribution was by the Northern Illinois Food Bank on Saturday morning at Joliet Junior College, 1215 Houbolt Road, Joliet. Each family received 50 pounds of food, said Mike Keane, director of programs for the food bank.

“The distribution reached capacity by 8:45 a.m. [on Saturday]. Food is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and some neighbors arrived early,” Keane said.

A pop-up mobile market is where one or two trucks of food arrive on location in the community for a short period of time, according to the food bank. Volunteers unload and distribute the food to people in a drive-thru model.

The mobile markets typically last two hours and provide families with common grocery items such as bread, cereal, meat, dairy and fresh produce.

Inflation, rising food costs and the ending of emergency government benefits have been driving about 500,000 people a month to seek assistance from Northern Illinois Food Bank pantries and programs, said Katie Heraty, media relations director for the food bank.

Keane said information on the location of other food pantries and resources were provided to people who did not make the cutoff for the pop-up mobile market in Joliet.

The Northern Illinois Food Bank provides information and locations on food pantries in Will County on their website at solvehungertoday.org.