Gleaners Hunger Hero Food Drive - Birmingham, Royal Oak and Bloomfield Hills

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

For Immediate Release
Contact C & B Scene at 248.557.2510

Gleaners Asks Oakland County Residents To Be Hunger Heroes

Local Communities Encouraged to Participate In Food Drive

(Detroit, MI – June 17, 2009) . . . Each June when schools close, 250,000 children across Southeast Michigan no longer receive meals for free or at reduced prices. This can mean a child could go without breakfast or lunch, or sometimes both.

Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan (Gleaners) continues its annual Hunger Heroes For Kids Campaign from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday, July 25, 2009, with neighborhood food drives in Royal Oak, Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills. These three communities join together to fight hunger, for the final food drive that will take place this summer. Gleaners’ goal is to provide two million meals for children and families during the summer months when children are more active and susceptible to hunger.

Teams of volunteers dressed in Gleaners’ shirts will begin walking the streets of these communities at
10 a.m., collecting food left outside resident’s front doors. Lawn signs will dot the communities the week leading up to the drive, reminding neighbors to leave a bag or more of nutritional, non-perishable food on their front porch for pick up on Saturday, July 25, 2009.

QUOTE

“We are excited about this year’s Hunger Heroes for Kids campaign,” said Gleaners President DeWayne Wells. “It is always gratifying to see communities helping each other during times of need.”

Other ways to be a part of the campaign include:
Donating time by joining a Hunger Hero Food Drive team,
Placing a lawn sign on personal property to remind everyone of the upcoming food drive,
Making a donation at www.gcfb.org or calling 1.866.GLEANER,
Sharing information about the campaign with neighbors and friends

The Truth About Hunger In Michigan
1,083,000 different people annually depend on Michigan food banks, 34% of them - children
Over half of the counties in Michigan do not have locations where children can go to receive free meals during the summer recess from school
77,949 children in Southeastern Michigan benefit from food banks

For more information on how you can donate or volunteer and become a Hunger Hero, log on to www.hungerhero.org, call 1.866.GLEANER ext. 270 toll free.

About Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan

Gleaners Community Food Bank, in collaboration with its member agencies and with broad community backing and support, provides surplus donated and low-cost food and personal care products to people in need in southeastern Michigan. In so doing, Gleaners is committed to adopting best practices and cost-effective systems and procedures to achieve the highest possible return on its human and financial resources. Gleaners fulfills its role with a sense of compassion and urgency, recognizing that in many instances, it is the only source of emergency food for persons in need.

MEDIA ONLY: For more information or to schedule an interview contact C&B Scene at 248.557.2510.