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Food Rescue of Northwest Michigan became the newest member of Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank’s regional network
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Grand Rapids, Mich. — On Tuesday, March 27, Food Rescue of Northwest Michigan became the newest member of Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank’s regional network.
Representatives from both non-profits signed a contract making Food Rescue a redistribution organization under Feeding America West Michigan (RDO). Food Rescue will now receive groceries from some of Feeding America’s largest donors, and Feeding America West Michigan will now be able to use Food Rescue’s presence in six northwest counties to serve more families in need.
“We are looking forward to working together in a closer way to collect and distribute food to people in those counties,” said Ken Estelle, CEO of Feeding America West Michigan.
Traverse City-based Food Rescue is a program of Goodwill Industries of Northwest Michigan. It collects food from local markets and distributes it to pantries and shelters from Antrim to Manistee. Beyond relieving hunger, Food Rescue hosts programs like Cooking Matters to teach people how to prepare nutritious and affordable meals.
Since its founding in 2008, Food Rescue has received what program director Trish Fiebing called “tremendous support” from the community, especially family-owned grocery stores like Olson Food Stores, which donated one of its four refrigerated trucks. “The community was just totally behind the effort,” she said.
Partnering with Feeding America West Michigan opens Food Rescue to donations from Sam’s Club, Walmart and Target. As a result, Fiebing anticipates that Food Rescue will take in 1 million pounds this fiscal year, equal to the total amount of food rescued in its first two years.
“We are excited, as we know this is going to increase the amount of good food into the pantry system for people in need,” said George Powell, one of the Food Rescue’s founders and co-chair of its advisory board. “We also know that the more food donors who participate, the more efficiently we can operate. This is a win-win for everyone.”
About Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank. The mission of Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank is to ensure food is available to the hungry in our community. One of the nation’s largest and most effective food banks, Feeding America West Michigan accepts food donations from farmers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. It stores, processes and distributes the food through 1,300 local food pantries and other hunger relief agencies in 40 West Michigan counties. More than 100,000 West Michigan families rely on food from Feeding America West Michigan.
About Food Rescue of Northwest Michigan. Our mission is to collect and distribute, free of charge, soon-to-expire perishable food and beverages from available food sources (e.g. grocery stores, restaurants, caterers, bakeries, etc.) to people in need through the area’s food pantries, shelters and community meals programs in our six-county area.
Phone: (231) 995-7723
Contact:
Linda Vanderbaan
616.389.6356
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