The last two years have been nothing short of astonishing at North Valley Food Bank! In this time we have implemented a new strategic plan focused on breaking barriers to food access, advancing our internal operations, and cultivating our community partnerships. Implementing our vision alongside a global pandemic has pushed us to new heights and propelled us faster towards our goals than we ever imagined.
in 2020, we expanded our distribution hours five-fold, established four bi-monthly mobile pantries in surrounding rural communities, doubled our senior delivery program, and purchased a box truck to transport food to our fellow food pantries. In 2019, we served an average of 143 households through our food distribution services. We now serve 47% more, coming in at an average of 211 a week. Alongside the increase in customers, we have also amped up the quantity of food passing through our pantry at a paralleled rate. Our mobile pantries are booming with customers, highlighting poverty and food insecurity in our rural communities. In Trego alone, we serve eighty households twice a month.
2021 holds the same level of vigor. In late winter we will begin the first stages of a multiple-phase building remodel which will start with a new addition to house our walk-in freezers and coolers, and conclude with the addition of a commercial kitchen and grocery store. We are thrilled to open a Choice Model food pantry where customers have further autonomy over their dietary needs and preferences, in addition to a commercial kitchen where we can process large quantities of fresh foods and host community education. As we look to the future, we see North Valley Food Bank as an inclusive community space that combats hunger with dignity and compassion.