Layton Auto Body rescues Sanpete Pantry food truck
"Robby Layton (left) and his team fill kid packs at the Sanpete Pantry with the help of the Sanpete Pantry's staff."
When Sanpete Pantry’s mobile food truck broke down on the road south of Sterling 2 weeks ago, the sheriff impounded it and it was towed to Layton Auto Body shop in Ephraim. The truck broke down between Manti and Gunnison after Gunnison’s mobile food drop, where the Sanpete Pantry had helped 30 families.
With a broken transmission, the disabled food truck was sitting at Layton Auto Body Shop. Robby Layton, owner of Layton Auto Body assessed the charges for the impound fee, the towing, storage for the truck, removal of the transmission, having the transmission rebuilt, and reinstalling the transmission at about $2,500. It takes a lot of donations to the Food Pantry to cover a cost of that magnitude.
Layton’s Auto Body generously decided the cost was “no charge”, providing all the services and labor to the Sanpete Pantry for free, and going out of their way to get the repairs done quickly with the help of Action Transmission. They even bought and installed new windshield wipers on the truck after driving it back to the Sanpete Pantry in the snow and noticing that the current wipers has outlived their usefulness.
On Wednesday, February 23, the team from Layton’s Body Shop showed up at the Sanpete Pantry to deliver the newly repaired food truck back. Robby Layton, along with his wife, mechanics and staff got a tour of the Sanpete Pantry and even donated their time to create some “kid packs” to help feed Sanpete’s school age children who are food insecure. As if the kindness of the Laytons and their staff wasn’t enough, Robby Layton took up a collection at his shop and presented the pantry with a cash donation of $451.69 from his team, while he and his family themselves presented the Sanpete Pantry with another $4,000! This much money will feed 556 kids.
Layton Auto Body documented their journey with the Sanpete Pantry mobile food truck in a Youtube video that is really fun and heartwarming to watch. “Food Pantry truck breaks down – can we save it?” is the name of the video that details how Layton Auto Body rescued, fixed, and returned the food truck and then visited the Sanpete Pantry.
The mobile food truck drops are back on schedule now. The truck goes to Gunnison every first Thursday of the month from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and every third Tuesday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon. It will be in Fountain Green every fourth Thursday of the month.
