SESSER (WSIL) -- People lined up for miles Monday morning to receive food from the Sesser Mobile Market.
"The first Monday of the month is when this mobile market happens. The truck comes in, and people just start lining up. I live about a block from here and at 6 o'clock this morning there weren't any cars at this first corner, but by about 7 o'clock the cars we're already at that first corner," explained volunteer Teresa Stacey.
Stacey states that while this takes place every month, the need for food right now is high.
"I think with the pandemic and people being out of work, yeah, we're going to expect a lot more families than normal."
More than 11,000 pounds of food was delivered by the Saint Louis Food Bank and then distributed to residents. The Mobile Market fed over 300 families just two weeks ago and expects to help over 100 more.
"We got here about 6:30, so we've been here for about 3 and a half hours or so, but it's well worth it," said one local resident.
"Many times they'll say all kinds of things, 'God bless you' and 'thank you,' it's nice," added Stacey.
Stacey explained the mobile market isn't just a one-person job, it takes many volunteers to make it happen.
"I'm a teacher so normally I'm in school at this time. So since I'm out, I'm up here volunteering. In the summer, each first Monday of the month, I come up. I bring my daughters, if they're home, they come up with me. We have a good time. We just really enjoy being around our community of people."
"Today I'm just volunteering as like a community member, but normally whenever when we're in school, I'm part of the National Honor Society at Sesser Valier High School, and I come up whenever I can and I distribute the food," said volunteer Anna Kistner.
The Sesser Mobile Market is on a first-come, first-serve basis and takes place the first Monday of every month.