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A cut fuel line may have sidelined one of their vans, but Marina MacNeil and her colleagues didn’t let that stop them.

The crew of the Family Resource Center of the Redwoods Food Bank pulled into the parking lot across the street from Howonquet Hall in Smith River, set out tables, chairs and canopies, unloaded their box truck and lifted the lid on the Mobile Market.

Soon they were bagging crimson tomatoes, emerald cucumbers and assorted bell peppers. There were dried beans, rice, spaghetti, canned tuna, frozen fish fillets and ground beef and milk. Apart from a surplus of plums from Kingsburg, California, most of the food was local.

“These are some of the best-hearted people I’ve met in my life,” volunteer Darrel Hoenberger said on Sept. 17.

The FRC Food Pantry had two stops in Smith River that day. After it concluded its distribution near Howonquet Hall, it spent the afternoon at the United Methodist Church on Beckstead Avenue.

The Community Food Council and Family Resource Center of the Redwoods opened Pacific Pantry in 2018 with Community Development Block Grant dollars allocated to them from Crescent City.

In August 2020, both organizations used additional CDBG dollars to take its pantry on the road. Now, in addition to visiting Smith River, the Mobile Market makes two stops in Klamath on the first Tuesday of the month and two stops in Gasquet the fourth Tuesday of the month.

Meanwhile, Pacific Pantry continues to serve Crescent City area residents Tuesdays and Fridays as well as the first and third Saturday of the month.

“It’s nice, people can choose what they want,” Campbell told the Wild Rivers Outpost. “We have roughly 14 local food producers who provide fresh produce, dairy, beef and fish to our patrons.”

Food Bank volunteers are often asked to glean people’s properties, especially as summer turns to autumn and people have a surplus of fruit and vegetables. Campbell noted that Pacific Pantry had such a large glut of plums they were giving them away to anyone who wanted them.

“At the Youth and Family Fair we had people pick up plums to [make] fruit leather,” she said.

According to Campbell, the FRC Food Bank hopes to develop a group of gleaning volunteers next summer.

As they enter their busy season, Pacific Pantry and the Mobile Market are going through some changes. The Community Food Council, which spearheaded the creation of Pacific Pantry and the Mobile Market, will become its own nonprofit, stepping out from under the FRC’s umbrella.

The FRC will continue operating Pacific Pantry and the Mobile Market. It’s also in the process of remodeling the former Redwood Welding Service building at 1020 U.S. 101 in Crescent City.

The move will increase the pantry’s storage capacity with a walk-in freezer and a refrigerator, but distribution will still happen at the FRC’s 494 Pacific Avenue location or at any of the Mobile Market’s distribution sites.

“It’s supposed to be a quick build,” MacNeil said. “We’re hoping to be in there by the end of the year.”

According to MacNeil, the Food Bank also hopes to grow its network of partner pantries. It currently distributes food to Del Norte Mission Possible once a week.

“Our goal is to set up more pantries throughout the community,” she said.

The FRC Food Bank is also working with the Community Food Council and other local partners to shore up the community’s food safety net during a natural disaster and other emergencies.

Funded through a $1.5 million grant from the USDA Food Systems Partnership Program, the Food Council’s goal is to establish an emergency feeding plan by Sept. 29, 2025. It also aims to create a task force responsible for coordinating resources during “blue sky times” and during a disaster, Project Manager Iya Mahan told the Wild Rivers Outpost following a virtual convening session on Aug. 21.

The FRC Food Bank is part of that task force, Campbell said.

About a year ago, during the Smith River Complex wildfires, the Food Bank ordered emergency food boxes, MacNeil said. The FRC became a landing spot for donations, but the Food Bank had to ask Del Norte Unified School District for help during the power outage.
Now, the FRC Food Bank has generators to enable it to withstand a power outage, MacNeil said.

“Once we have our warehouse we’ll have the capacity to store food and not need to go to the school district,” she said.

The FRC Food Bank is funded through a $310,000 Local Food Purchasing Agreement allocation, which enables it to buy local food.

The FRC Food Bank accepts food donations after noon on Mondays and from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. These items will be given away during Waste Not Weekly from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. at the Pacific Pantry.

People can also help volunteer by visiting the FRC and filling out a volunteer packet and donate by clicking here.

The FRC Food Bank’s Pacific Pantry is open from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Fridays and on the first and third Saturdays of the month from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

On the first Tuesday of the month, the Mobile Market visits the Terwer RV Park in Klamath from 10 a.m.-noon and then makes a stop at Pem-Mey, 125 Ehlers Avenue from 2 p.m.-4 p.m.

On the third Tuesday of the month, the Mobile Market makes two stops in Smith River: Howonquet Hall, 101 Indian Court, from 10 a.m.-noon and at the United Methodist Church, 121 North Beckstead Avenue from 2 p.m.-4 p.m.

The Mobile Market visits Gasquet on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 10 a.m.-noon at the American Legion Hall, 1555 Gasquet Flat Road.

For more information, call (707) 464-0955 extension 2109 or email foodbank@frcredwoods.org.

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