More food trucks are making their way to downtown Turlock, courtesy of the Knights of Columbus.

The local nonprofit organization plans on adding two additional food trucks to their site, located on the corner of East Avenue and Minerva Street, after approval from the Planning Commission on Jan. 16. There is currently already one food truck operating at the Knights of Columbus lot, and another four taco trucks serve food on the adjacent property.

Anthony Silva of the Knights of Columbus said that the desire to add more food trucks to the property stems from a need for more funds.

“The reason we’re asking for additional spaces for the food wagons is to help us do our work in the community,” he said, noting that the charity works to provide scholarships for local high school students and help with its parish. “Right now, we have debt on this property because we left our Broadway home to make room for the Turlock Gospel Mission. To make that happen we had to take on this debt, and now we need some way to fund not only our mortgage but our expenses.”

The project will see the Knights of Columbus parking lot re-striped to better accommodate the three total food trucks on the property, and three 168 square foot canopies will be permanently erected as a seating area for dining customers. The parking lot in its current state has 51 spaces, but with the re-striping there will be 42 parking spots.

Each of the food trucks that operate on the lot will be required to obtain a mobile food vendor permit, and there’s already been interest according to Silva. Turlock catering company Super Sope, which will be featured on the Food Network’s reality competition series “The Great Food Truck Race,” is looking to open their first food truck soon and has inquired about the new spaces, and Silva anticipates the current taco truck on the lot to remain as well. Still, Knights of Columbus would like to hear from any food truck operators interested in setting up shop at the new space.

“The understanding is that there’s a demand for more food trucks,” Silva said.

Silva anticipates the project to be completed within the next six months. He hopes that the new food truck court will not only provide a couple of new dining options for Turlockers, but aesthetically enhance the area around the Knights of Columbus property as well.

“One of the reasons for the lunch wagons is to bring in income and have enough for some of our fundraisers, while at the same time improving our facility which is one of our main goals,” Silva said.