New food truck opens to fight food insecurities
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 14, 2017 9:57 AM
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Residents from Day Pointe apartments wait in line to receive a hot meal from the ADLA food truck Thursday afternoon.
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ADLA executive director Danny King stands near the line of residents while they receive their meals at Day Pointe apartments.
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Jaylen Suggs, 7, left, and Tyron Jones, 7, hold the free meals they received from the ADLA food truck Thursday afternoon at Day Pointe apartments.
When it comes to helping the community, dedication and perseverance pay off.
For Danny King, executive director of Wayne County nonprofit A Lot of Direction, Love and Affection, nearly a year of hard work came to fruition Thursday afternoon, as the organization rolled out its long-awaited food truck at the Grand at Day Pointe apartment complex.
The truck is an extension of the ADLA food pantry, which means that the organization can pull USDA-allocated food resources to provide free meals from the vehicle.
Thursday was just the first in what figures to be many appearances for the new truck.
"We consider this our grand opening," King said. "We're going to be bringing this to different housing projects on a rotating schedule every Wednesday and Thursday."
King and other ADLA volunteers set up the truck around 4:30 p.m., filled with enough barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese and vegetables to feed around 200 people. Almost immediately, a crowd began to steadily gather as the volunteers prepared to give out their first meal on the road.
Soon, a dense line had formed down and across Day Circle, with families coming out in groups to take part.
Providing food to the hungry is a passion central to ADLA, which operates a soup kitchen and food pantry out of offices in Goldsboro and Mount Olive.
Feeding the hungry is also a cause close to King's heart.
"I feel rewarded by this, I feel as if we're doing God's work," he said, watching a trio of smiling children receive their food. "I grew up as the youngest of 13 in a single-parent household, my father was deceased at an early age. So I know hunger, I know how important it is to get people a good meal who might not have it otherwise."
The truck has been nearly a year in the making. King originally coordinated with Goldsboro Community Relations Director Shycole Simpson-Carter to secure Community Development Block Grant funding for a trailer, eventually switching to a truck due to logistical concerns.
Several sponsors joined the city of Goldsboro to help fund the project. Jackson and Sons, Mt. Olive Pickle Co., Sleep Inn, Southern Bank, the Weil Foundation and the town of Mount Olive all pitched in.
King thanked the organizations that helped ADLA get the truck together, but also said that continued community support is needed to keep it running.
"This was a massive undertaking, and I don't want to leave out anyone who helped us do it," he said. "It takes money to pay for the generator, gas, food preparation, so anyone who wants to donate is welcome."
By the end of the day, the ADLA truck had provided 225 meals, so much that King had to go buy more plates to keep up. While the truck itself is a significant milestone for ADLA, it is only part of the overall plan King has for the organization.
The next step, he said, is to begin offering culinary arts classes in order to help people reduce food insecurity for themselves at home. The ultimate goal would be the creation of a restaurant, which would both provide employment for community youth and a steady funding source for ADLA's various programs.
"We've always been, and I don't want to sound arrogant, but we've been innovators in finding ways to feed people," he said. "Ultimately, that's what we'll do. Continue to be innovative in helping people however we can."