Banking on donations
Stephanie Antonian Rutherford
The Enquirer

 

After a long, hard winter, supplies at the Food Bank of South Central Michigan are starting to get a bit thin, while the need continues to grow to record levels.

But spring will bring some much-needed sunshine to the non-profit, which just kicked off its annual Spring Food Raiser event — a two-month slew of fundraising events to help pump up the Food Bank's warehouse and help feed hungry people throughout the region.

    

John Grap/The Enquirer

(left) Joan Hiatt of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan loads food items Friday for a Kalamazoo Boys and Girls Club after-school program.  (right) Karla Darazio of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan loads food items into a pickup.

 
"Usually these bays are quite high," Dan Salerno, the Food Bank's fund development director, said as he pointed out lowered supplies at the non-profit's Battle Creek warehouse. "With Michigan's economy doing so poorly, it's a real challenge to keep up with the level of need."

The Food Bank supplies food and essential items to more than 275 programs for people in need in eight Michigan counties. The annual Food Raiser, said executive director Bob Randels, is a huge boost that the non-profit counts on each year.

"In terms of food, the donations we receive each year through the Food Raiser count as much as what we would receive as from a Fortune 500 company," Randels said. "Literally thousands of people help."

This year's Food Raiser kicked off March 1 with the Feinstein Challenge, a program in which Rhode Island philanthropist Alan Shaw Feinstein matches donations given to the Food Bank now until April 30.

Event highlights include supermarket races, school food drives, a canned food sculpture exhibit and a special envelope insert in the Easter Sunday (March 23) edition of the Enquirer.

"It's different than the grocery bag that we've usually had as an insert," Salerno said of the Enquirer insert. "The envelope will be a great way to help the Food Bank with monetary donations."

On Friday, the Food Bank warehouse, 5451 Wayne Rd., was busy with dozens of trucks and cars pulling in to take away food.

Truck driver Josh Campbell, a community outreach coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kalamazoo, was loading up on snack supplies for the low-income children his organization serves in its after-school program.

"The Food Bank helps kids who normally wouldn't have access to a nutritious after-school snack," Campbell said. "We really see a difference in how the kids focus after they get the food and it makes a lot of difference in the work we do."

Raising money and donations to support programs like the Boys & Girls Club is exactly what the Food Raiser is all about, Randels said.

"It's all about neighbors helping neighbors," he said. "And it makes a big impact."

Stephanie Antonian Rutherford can be reached at 966-0665 or srutherford@battlecr.gannett.com.

2008 Food Raiser events
• Curves Food Drive: Now through March 17. Bring a bag of non-perishable food to any area Curves and get a $140 membership sign-up for only $30.

• Enquirer insert: March 23, look for a special donation insert in the Battle Creek Enquirer.

• Felpausch Food Collection: Dates to be announced. Look for non-perishable food collection bins at all area Felpausch stores.

• Michigan Education Association Souper Kids: Now through March 31. Area students participate in food drives at local schools.

• April Food's Day Media Celebrities Shopping Sweep: 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 1, at Family Fare Market in Marshall.

• Jackson Media Supermarket Sweep: 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 15 at Jackson Felpausch Food Center.

• Stuff the Bus with Re-MAX Perrett: Saturday, April 19. Re-MAX Perrett Associates will fill a bus with non-perishable food donations in the Pennfield Felpausch parking lot.

• Canned Sculpture Exhibit: April 19 through May 4. Sponsored by Scene Magazine at the Lakeview Square Mall.

• Battle Creek Knights: Saturday, April 26. Bring a non-perishable food item to a Battle Creek Knights game to be entered to win prizes.

• Comcast Cares Day: Saturday, May 3. Comcast employees volunteer at the Food Bank.

• Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger: Saturday, May 10. The National Association of Letter Carriers collects food door-to-door.

The Food Bank of South Central Michigan is located at 5451 Wayne Road in Battle Creek. For more information on these events, call the Food Bank at 964-3663 or e-mail cproctor@foodbankofscm.org.

Web Site: www.foodbankofscm.org.