Idaho’s Poorest County Launches Mobile Pantry

REXBURG, Idaho (AP) — Officials in eastern Idaho's Madison County have started a new mobile food pantry to help the rising number of residents impacted by poverty. The Post Register reports the mobile food bank is a combined effort by the Madison School District, a mental health program called Madison Cares, and the Family Crisis Center.

On Tuesday, the mobile pantry gave out boxes filled with 60 to 80 pounds of food to a line of residents stretching a quarter mile long at a junior high parking lot.

Madison County has the highest poverty rate in the state, measured by the U.S. Census Bureau at more than 38 percent in 2011. That's up from more than 15 percent in 2003. Idaho's poverty rate statewide was almost 17 percent in 2011.