Organizations tackle demands of feeding hungry

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GO Published: Saturday, October 15, 2011 3 0 2 MORE PHOTOS Click thumbnails to enlarge By DANIELLE EMERSON Special to The Oakland Press Editor s Note: This is the first in an occasional series on

PONTIAC About 1 in 5 people in Southeast Michigan live in poverty and 300,000 children receive free or reduced priced lunches during the school year, according to Gleaners Community Food Bank based

1 MICentral Network: Select a site RSS Contact Us Place A Classified Ad Subscribe Manage Your Subscription E-Paper Advertise With Us Serving Oakland County HOME NEWS SPORTS BUSINESS OBITS OPINION ENTERTAINMENT LIFE BLOGS VIDEO JOBS REAL ESTATE CARS CLASSIFIEDS MARKETPLACE SEARCH The Web The Oakland Press Search NEWS > LOCAL NEWS Organizations tackle demands of feeding hungry Categories Search GO Published: Saturday, October 15, MORE PHOTOS Click thumbnails to enlarge By DANIELLE EMERSON Special to The Oakland Press Editor s Note: This is the first in an occasional series on food and culture. PONTIAC About 1 in 5 people in Southeast Michigan live in poverty and 300,000 children receive free or reduced priced lunches during the school year, according to Gleaners Community Food Bank based in Detroit. Click to enlarge The task of overcoming that issue weighs heavily on some emergency food relief organizations serving Oakland County. NATIONAL NEWS VIDEOS We ve been under added stress for almost three years now, said Russ Russell, chief development officer of the nonprofit Forgotten Harvest. Forgotten Harvest rescues usable perishable food items from being thrown out and serves them to those in need. See, Click, Fix

2 said. It s very difficult for us to know that there are hungry children that will go to bed to sleep tonight without any food and knowing that we as Americans throw away about 25 percent of all edible food that is really good. Russell said Metro Detroit is in a hunger crisis, whether people realize it or not. I m starting to see the resemblance of poverty in other countries right here in Michigan. All of our mobile pantries have waiting lists. Unfortunately, some (people) have to wait three weeks before they can be seen, Russell said. A national study conducted in 2009 by the nonprofit Feeding America found the two Oakland County organizations provided emergency assistance to more than 100,000 people any given week.» No Left-Turn sign causing unnecessary amou... (1)» turn light is out (1)» Chronic trash on curb (4)» Road overtop of bridge is TERRIBLE (2)» no stop sign (1)» no stop sign (1)» Light out in parking lot of apartment comp... (1)» Blocks Traffic (1)» Street light out on corner of Euclid and J... (2)» Traffic (1) Thirty-nine percent of the households served by Forgotten Harvest or Gleaners had children younger than the age of 18, with 11 percent of those children being younger than 5 years old. Report to Your City About 45 percent of Michigan students qualify to receive reduced price lunches a 26 percent increase from 2006 to 2009, according to Gleaners. Hunger is particularly cruel to children, said Susan Goodell, president and CEO of Forgotten Harvest. It limits normal physical, brain and socialization development. Hunger and the lack of nutritious food could have a dramatic impact on the long-term prospect of our kids becoming productive citizens in the future. Anne Schenk, senior director of advancement for Gleaners, said her organization also has seen increased demand for its services from both employed and unemployed families in Oakland County, as well as its other areas of service ranging from Monroe to Livingston and Macomb counties. Underemployment is just as much a driver as unemployment, Schenk said. There s a lot of people who are still working but don t have the buying power, or there s only one working adult rather than two in the household. Photo Galleries Schenk said Gleaners also has found success in providing weekend backpacks for children relying on free or reduced price school lunches to take home, as well as an in-school snack program. If you figure a child is coming to school hungry, you figure there s a deeper hunger issue in the family, Schenk said. View and Purchase Photos Share Your Photos There s a tremendous amount of research that shows how it can affect children: Everything from social and behavioral problems to damaging cognitive development and absences from being sick from not getting proper nutritional value. It could set a child up for a lifetime of not meeting their full potential. Ultimately, it s our economic future.

3 Schenk said Gleaners must purchase the nutritional food to be certain of its nutritional quality. The food we get is good food but we have put an emphasis on good, quality, nutritious food to children especially, she said. Our backpack program in particular is intended to meet two-thirds of a child s nutritional needs for a weekend. From August 2010 to the end of September 2011, Gleaners distributed more than 6.8 million pounds of food a 25 percent increase since For more information on how to donate to Gleaners, visit or call GLEANER. Forgotten Harvest also hosts community harvests between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Saturday through November at various locations. For more information, visit or call Most Popular Most Commented Most Shared Ghoulish prank explains some of the missing body parts from Oak Hill Cemetery (275) POLICE BLOTTER OCT. 17: Commerce Tow nship teen hits deputy's car; Waterford resident robbed; Pontiac man with crowbar chases victim; Lyon Township man threatened with knife (265) Wayne State University students help care for remains at Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac WITH VIDEO (229) Reader Comments» View reader comments (2)» Comment on this story» Return to Paging Mode WEEK IN REVIEW: High-speed crash in Pontiac; Silverdome plans leaked; Novi locale becomes irestaurant; Rape alleged at POH (225) More people opt for organic food delivery, Oakland County businesses say (193) Harbaugh, 49ers trip up previously undefeated Detroit Lions VIDEO OF HARBAUGH-SCHWARTZ CONFRONTATION (114) ADVERTISEMENT The E-Cigarette Exposed Read our shocking news report on e-cigarette. You will be surprised what we found. Learn more Cactus Super Fruit? Shocking scientific discovery links joint pain relief to a strange desert fruit. Learn more Recent Activity on Facebook Blog Center They depend on You You will do anything to protect your family. So why risk their financial future? Learn more Easy Investing Discover the advantages of buying penny stocks... Learn more Frye on the News Stephen Frye has covered the police beat and courts for The Oakland Press and now serves as online editor for w w w.theoaklandpress.com. TALK OF THE WEB livethefinelife 2011 Detroit Canstruction Design/Build Exhibit: Courtesy of Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michig long ago via Twitter for iphone Skoop's Blog A political blog by Tim Skubick. The Law Blogger Informs on and discusses current matters of legal interest to readers of The Oakland Press and to consumers of legal services in the community.

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