COLUMBIA, S.C. — Food deserts here in the Columbia area are familiar to some families.
But there's a possible solution on the horizon.
Tuesday, town leaders at Columbia city hall will be discussing a new pilot program combatting food deserts. They say combining technology and available delivery services like Door Dash could be a possible solution.
Kaela Hampton lives in a food desert off of North Main Street, in the northern half of Columbia.
She says it's hard to support her four kids with food when grocery stores are far and few to come by. Plus, she explains she works full time and is in school.
"This is a low income neighborhood. A lot of people don't have vehicles. We have a lot of elderly people in the community who aren't able to go out there," Hampton said.
However, if this new pilot program passes by the beginning of April in a few weeks, things could change for the better for Hampton and her family.
Mayor Daniel Rickenmann says the idea is that the city would spend up to $10,000, with about $100 per person on a delivery service of their choice. Then they'd be able to buy groceries that would be dropped off at their doorstep for free.
The cost would be covered by the city.
"Do I think we're going to get 100%, this solves the problem? This is not going to solve the problem. There's not one answer to the problem. We're going to have to continue to do different things. But this is one step where we're trying something different, that may can help bring some relief to families who are struggling with that issue," Rickenmann said.
After all, the need for food right now is great. Sheri Selke, the executive director at Sharing God's Love explains she's seen local food need increase by 100 people each of these past two months.
"The food desert. It's a real issue," Selke said. "If you are financially challenged, you really need places that you can walk to or get to easily off of public transportation and that just isn't the case in these places."
Selke says she hopes this program could help.
Columbia City Council meets Tuesday, March 21, at 4 p.m. EST. Mayor Rickenmann explains he intends to launch the program at three popular local parks in the coming weeks.
We'll be sure to keep you updated with the latest information here on WLTX.