A steady stream of vehicles lined up at the Tamaqua Area Middle School for Tuesday’s monthly mobile food market organized by the Helping Harvest Fresh of Berks and Schuylkill counties.

From the school’s parking lot, Helping Harvest employees and volunteers placed large boxes full of food into trunks and back seats.

“We do this every first Tuesday of the month,” Santiago Castaneda, Helping Harvest mobile market coordinator, said.

The recent distribution provided good to 144 low-income households.

Castaneda explained that each would receive 30 pounds of food. The boxes included breads, pastries, canned goods, dried items such as pasta, along with fresh meats, fruits and vegetables.

He noted that senior food boxes were also part of the distribution. Low-income individuals 60 and older can apply for the supplement, which includes foods of high nutritional value.

According to information from Helping Harvest, which is based in Reading, more than 110,000 individuals in Schuylkill and Berks counties qualify for food assistance.

Helping Harvest collects, purchases, stores, and distributes more than 9 million pounds of food annually.