Did you know that the Greater Lansing Food Bank…
-provided more than three million meals this year, nearly half of which went to children?
-rescued more than 500 thousand pounds of food this year?
-maintained 90 community gardens featuring more than one million square feet of space?
-entered its 31st year of helping feed the hungry?
-can feed a family of four for six days with just a $60 donation?
-collected, purchased, and distributed food through 22 Ingham County pantries, as well as 36 human resource agencies, including community kitchens, shelters, and other food pantries?
For some, daily life serves as a stark reminder of the challenges found in society; specifically, the threat of hunger. The right to food is a basic human need. Fortunately, there are local organizations that are doing their best to wipe out hunger year-round, such as the Greater Lansing Food Bank.
The GLFB has been in existence since 1981. Originally known as the Greater Lansing Food Alliance, the organization has expanded to become not just a food pantry, but now includes services such as the Garden Project and Food Movers. The former began in 1983 and quickly established numerous community gardens and backyard gardens for low-income residents, while the latter specializes in rescuing perishable but wholesome food from restaurants, commercial kitchens, bakeries, grocery stores and delivers this food to pantries, agencies and subsidized housing complexes.
None of the GLFB’s efforts could be accomplished without the generous giving of local citizens, coming together to provide support by donating and volunteering to sustain this worthy cause.
Do your part this year and help eliminate hunger. Visit www.greaterlansingfoodbank.org for more information, or contact their offices directly at (517) 853-7800.
Listen to Joe Wald, interim executive director of the GLFB, explain just what the food bank means to the community at Spartan Podcast (www.spartanpodcast.com/russ/JoeWald.mp3).
