My Neighborhood Mobile Grocery Program unveiled at press event
Thanks to an innovative new program and partnership with PepsiCo Corp., Gleaners will help hungry families get the fresh, nutritious food they need through the My Neighborhood Mobile Grocery program.
The program is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2016, with a pilot location in southwest Detroit. Hungry families will be able to purchase fresh food directly from the Neighborhood Mobile Grocery truck, a 24-foot vehicle PepsiCo donated to Gleaners for the program. The program is the result of extensive market research conducted by a team of volunteers from PepsiCo that identified food needs of residents in southwest Detroit, as well as barriers they face in meeting those needs.
“We continue to look at ways to provide value at the household level-not just direct food assistance but helping people do more with the resources they have,” said Gerry Brisson, president of Gleaners. “We believe once the My Neighborhood Mobile Grocery program is implemented, it will positively impact tens of thousands of hungry people and families in southeast Michigan. We are grateful to PepsiCo for their leadership and support on this important project,” Brisson added.
Details of the plan were unveiled during a press conference on October 26 at Gleaners. PepsiCo also donated a 53-foot semi-trailer to Forgotten Harvest. The new trailer will help distribute food in a faster way, based on a new delivery model that PepsiCo volunteers helped Forgotten Harvest design. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Forgotten Harvest CEO Kirk Mayes, also spoke at the press conference.