Our mission is to end hunger and poor nutrition for our senior population by
providing access to the food they need to live healthier lives.
The Portable Pantry collaborates with the community, business, and government
services to provide healthier food options and accessibility focused on the senior
population by distributing food in efforts to end hunger insecurity.
Established in 2013, the Portable Pantry Project is a resource that helps seniors with
lower incomes in the Mesquite and East Dallas area receive food midway through the
month. Seniors on social security typically run out of money funds toward the end of
the month. The Portable Pantry Project bridges that gap by supplying food items to
assist them through the remainder of the month.
Griswold Home Care created this program with the assistance of Mesquite Social
Services, the City of Mesquite (senior centers), Mesquite Elks Lodge, and its volunteers.
Over the past ten years, we have delivered over 20,000 bags of food to our seniors in
the Mesquite and East Dallas areas, plus an additional 1,200 boxes of food to qualifying
seniors. Every bag of food can create eight additional meals, and a box can provide
ten additional extra meals.
We created the Portable Pantry Project (PPP) in October of 2013, when we made our
first food shipment to Mesquite’s Goodbar Senior Center. We delivered 50 bags of food
that were donated to us by Mesquite Social Services. Eight years later, we are still
providing food to needy seniors in the Mesquite/East Dallas areas.
The PPP was created by Griswold Home Care Mesquite, TX, Mesquite Social Services
(now defunct), Mesquite Senior Recreation Centers, and the Mesquite Elks Lodge
2404. We designed the PPP for seniors living on Social Security to help them get
through the month. We know seniors’ Social Security money tends to run out or is very
low towards the end of the month, so providing food to them helps stretch those
dollars. We deliver bags or boxes of food to Mesquite Goodbar Senior Center on the 3rd
Tuesday of each month, and then the food gets distributed to seniors who have signed
up for the program.
In 2018, we joined forces with the Sharing Life Community Outreach Center
in Mesquite, TX. Working with Sharing Life has been a wonderful experience. We have
increased food quality and added the PAN Program (Patient Access Network) for
seniors who can qualify, courtesy of the North Texas Food Bank. Sharing Life has been
great at helping us make this an even better program, and we look forward to our
continued partnership with them.
Mesquite’s Goodbar Senior Center has been a staple of this program, and the
leadership team with Kristen Herndon – the center’s manager – is so passionate about
this program. Every month, Kristen is part of the process. Kristen and her team love
their seniors and will do anything they can to help them, like standing outside during
a pandemic, in the rain, in the cold, or in 100-degree heat, to make sure their seniors
get the food and support they need.
