Mobile Community Pantry returns to Rockwall with free fresh food

Free fresh food will again be available in Rockwall as Catholic Charities Dallas brings its Mobile Community Pantry back to Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, giving families a predictable place to pick up produce and other groceries without cost. The pantry is set for the church parking lot at 1305 Damascus Road and is being offered as a steady response to food insecurity at a time when summer budgets are often stretched thin.

The next distribution is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19 at 9 a.m. A Saturday pantry planned for May has been canceled, but additional stops are already on the calendar: June 16 and July 21 at 9 a.m., followed by June 27 and July 25 at 9 a.m. The parish says the pantry is planned for the third Tuesday and fourth Saturday of each month while supplies last, and its listing extends beyond July with dates in August, September and October.

Our Lady of the Lake says Catholic Charities Dallas and the North Texas Food Bank supply the truck full of food. The pickup is meant to be accessible, not bureaucratic. Catholic Charities Dallas says families receiving government benefits such as SNAP, TANF, SSI, NSLP, Medicare and Medicaid are eligible, and no proof is required. The North Texas Food Bank says its public distributions with partner agencies are first-come, first-served, and that weather or product availability can affect posted dates.

Participants generally provide their name, family size and ZIP code when they arrive. The parish also notes that a family member, friend or neighbor may pick up food on another household’s behalf as long as basic information is provided, including name, address, contact details, date of birth and household size.

The Rockwall stop lands in a county where the need is measurable. Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap estimates 11,730 people in Rockwall County were food insecure in 2022, a rate of 10.6 percent. The same data puts the county’s annual food budget shortfall at $9.191 million and the average meal cost at $4.17.

Catholic Charities Dallas says its food services now include five mobile community pantries reaching more than 90 mobile pantry sites across the nine counties of the Diocese of Dallas. The organization says it surpassed 115 mobile distribution sites in fiscal 2025, underscoring how quickly demand has spread across North Texas. Catholic Charities Dallas and the North Texas Food Bank have partnered since 2011, and the food bank says Catholic Charities Dallas distributed nearly 8 million meals over the past year and more than 34 million meals since the partnership began.