IMACA’s Mono County Food Support Takes Giant Leap Forward in 2012

Beginning the week of January 3, 2012, IMACA will have regular public food pantry hours at 625 Old Mammoth Road, Mammoth Lakes, between 9 and 11 am Monday through Friday.

IMACA has quietly operated a food pantry in Mammoth Lakes for many years, but lacked the consistent food supply or funding source necessary to formally publicize the pantry. Since September, IMACA has been engaging with community agencies in Mammoth Lakes to improve the consistency of our food supply.

Thanks to the generosity of St. Joseph’s Church, Mammoth Lakes Lions Club and Leo’s, Noon Rotary, Vons, and Eastern Sierra Community Bank, IMACA has accumulated a substantial enough food supply to make the pantry publically available to people in need.

In October, IMACA also began working with Food Bank of Northern Nevada’s Mobile Food Pantry to deliver food to Walker/Coleville, Bridgeport, and Mammoth Lakes. In November, this effort supported more than 800 residents of Mammoth Lakes.

In December, IMACA received a generous grant from The California Endowment which will enable the agency both to staff the food pantry, and to use the Mammoth Lakes office as a drop point for additional Food Bank of Northern Nevada food which will be distributed to pantries in June Lake, Lee Vining, Benton, and Bridgeport, beginning later this spring.

Increased food assistance could not come at a more critical time. Families who rely on the region’s winter tourist season are currently struggling to make ends meet. Without snow, minimal income has forced many residents to make difficult choices between housing and food.

IMACA hopes that by providing multiple sources of food assistance throughout the month, families might have one less worry in the midst of a very challenging situation.