A $243,500 grant is helping 110 food pantries across Michigan, including 10 in Oakland County.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Blue Cross Complete of Michigan and United Dairy Industry of Michigan announced the grant program Wednesday, as a way of improving access to nutrient-rich foods such as dairy, fruit and vegetables.
The 10 Oakland County food pantries include: CARES in Farmington Hills; CCSEM/ La Casa Amiga, Pontiac; Chaldean American Ladies of Charity, Troy; Community Sharing, Highland; Divine Favor Ministries WE FEED, Hazel Park; Hospitably House, Commerce Twp.; Oakland HOPE, Pontiac; Open Door Outreach Center Inc., Waterford; Sharehouse Food Pantry, Troy; and Zelphias Community Kitchen, Novi.
The 110 pantries are in 42 of Michigan’s 83 counties and each month provide food to more than 56,000 Michigan residents.
More than 65% of these food pantries are dedicated to feeding older residents, a group that is one of several facing higher rates of hunger and food insecurity. They also help food-insecure children in Michigan.
Jackie Redick is the pantry manager at Open Door Outreach Center, 7124 Cooley Lake Rd. in Waterford. She said the money has helped pay for a new, large refrigerator with glass double doors.
“It holds a lot and it’s really nice because our other refrigerators were just the regular kind and we’d have to hold the door open,” she said, estimating that the new fridge cost close to $4,000. “It’s a really nice endowment.”
It’s the first time we wrote a grant wit the dairy farmers,” said JoAnn Bolek, Open Door’s treasurer and a pantry volunteer. “They took care of ordering and delivering this refrigerator. It’s to promote dairy products in our pantry.”
She said the new fridge has another benefit, because it operates more efficiently.
Open Door serves Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, Commerce Township, Orchard Lake, White Lake, Waterford, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake and Wolverine Lake and parts of Wixom. In addition to the pantry, they offer other support services and a thrift store.They offer emergency support services and referrals to other agencies.
Redick said people shouldn’t be shy about using food pantries. She said even in well-to-do communities, people fall on hard times.
“Believe or not, we had some people from West Bloomfield in the last few weeks who have been living in a car,” she said. “One day can make a big difference in someone’s life –you lose a job, lose a home. You never know what people are going through.”
Reducing food and nutrition insecurity for those most at-risk includes getting daily, fruits and vegetables to them as well as educating people and helping food pantries operate efficiently, said Ken Hayward, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan vice president and special assistant to the president for community relations.
Brianna Henton, youth wellness manager at United Dairy Industry of Michigan said Michigan dairy farmers are proud of their role in helping to overcome nutrition insecurity.
She said the grants will help panties stock coolers with perishable items, like dairy, or provide the infrastructure to have the ability to offer fresh dairy foods at local food pantries.
Paul Loffreda, market president of Blue Cross Complete of Michigan, said part of the Medicaid health plan’s commitment is providing members with nutritious resources “to lead healthy lives within their communities.”
