Dari Mart Features Parking Lot Produce Stand

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- This summer, customers at the Springfield, Ore., Dari Mart will have the opportunity to buy organic, locally grown produce from a mobile stand in the store’s parking lot, according to a Register-Guard report.

The stall is operated by Jack Richardson of the McKenzie River Organic Farm and will appear at the Dari Mart lot on Wednesdays through September. Richardson first brought the stand, made from a rebuilt 1949 GMC pickup truck with a flatbed, to the convenience store on June 22, when about 80 customers bought fruit and vegetables.

The visiting stand was sponsored through the Lane Coalition for Healthy Active Youth, a nonprofit organization that seeks to prevent childhood obesity and related health problems, according to the report. Funding comes from a three-year $180,000 grant from the Northwest Health Foundation and a $21,210 grant from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund.

Kayla Schott-Bresler, who is coordinating the project for the group, called the mobile stand "unqiue" and is working with Dari Mart to bring healthy groceries to two other locations in Eugene, Ore., which were selected based on age and income demographics, input from Dari Mart officials and proximity to supermarkets, according to the report.

A grand opening event will be held at the Springfield Dari Mart, located at 1243 Rainbow Drive, this Wednesday from 4 to 5:30 p.m.