‘One of the heaviest food deserts in Rock Hill’: Brothers tackle food insecurity

ROCK HILL, S.C. (QUEEN City News) — At the corner of Ogden Highway and Maple Street, sits the Sunset Park community’s initially neighborhood sector.

“We’ve performed a large amount of exploration and recognized that we’re in a single of the heaviest foodstuff deserts in Rock Hill and so seeking to offer access to fresh fruits, more healthy solutions for our group,” stated Magloire Lubika, a single of three co-entrepreneurs of the organization.

Their parents have owned this setting up for 15 decades. Magloire suggests the constructing hadn’t been renovated for at least 70 yrs, until his brothers took in excess of the business.

They revamped the store’s identification into this, a near put the place neighbors could grab necessary items like bread and milk, but also other products like yogurt or new fruit.

Amanda Sanders has been searching at the retail store for 15 many years, with the transform, she states the ease is every little thing.

“It’s a lot more easy for me to just stroll from correct down the road from up here to arrive in to get a wide variety of everything that I have to have, and I do not have to go all the way to the grocery keep to get,” Sanders reported.

All the way to the grocery retail outlet for Sanders is about a four-minute generate mainly because the closest grocery retail outlet is far more than a mile away. Publix and Walmart are a lot more than two miles absent.

But the Surefire Community Current market is right outdoors her property, now about a three-minute wander. For other folks with no transportation, a 3-to-5-moment travel is extra than a 30-moment wander in one particular route.

“Before me and my brothers made a decision to do this, our prospects didn’t have an possibility. So, you would come in and you would just obtain treats and that was it. Now you have an alternative, you have an choice to get much healthier solutions and the decision is on you now,” claimed Joel Lutuangu, one of a few co-homeowners of the marketplace. He’s using his health communications degree to make guaranteed the men and women in this space have the greatest and healthiest possibilities to decide on from.

In September, they’ll unveil their kitchen, established to provide breakfast and other foods which include their well-known very hot canines and sausage canines driving kitchen manager Toby Rajkumar. They say they’ll also have prepackaged food items for individuals on the go. Those options can also be procured utilizing SNAP benefits.

Rajkumar suggests total he feels blessed to be a element of the chance to change people’s lives.

“Nothing is frozen, all healthy initiatives. They’re going to adore it. With us bringing that to the forefront with the children, it’s likely to be helpful for them,” he mentioned.

The benches outside will be employed for men and women who want to acquire their food outside the house.