Food Bank of the Rockies has purchased a refrigerated trailer to distribute food thanks to a grant from the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation.

“This new trailer allows us to increase our capacity and provide more fresh produce to our neighbors across the Western Slope,” said Sue Ellen Rodwick, director of the Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope. “We’re grateful for the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation for supporting our mission, especially at a time when more individuals and families are turning to us and our network of hunger relief partners for help.”

The 53-foot-long trailer hauls thousands of pounds of food from the Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope Elkin Family Distribution Center in Grand Junction to hunger relief partners and mobile pantries in 13 counties.

Rodwick said that from December 2023 to February 2024, where was a 190 percent increase in mobile pantry attendance compared to the same period the previous year.

Since 2020, the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation has provided funding to Food Bank of the Rockies that’s enabled the purchase and distribution of more than 1 million pounds of fresh produce.