Local Food Banks Merge
10/27/2011 12:00:00 AM by
In what some are calling an early holiday season gift to the community, the Board of the American Red Cross, Mid-Michgan Chapter, which operates the Mid -Michigan Food Bank (MMFB) and the Board of the Greater Lansing Food Bank (GLFB) announced today that the two organizations will be combining operations effective July 1, 2012. Lee Hendrickson, Board Chair of the American Red Cross, parent organization of the MMFB, and Mike Busch, Board Chair of the GLFB, made the announcement this morning at a press conference held at the offices of the Capital Region Community Foundation, an organization which has provided financial support to both area food banks.
The vision of combining the two food banks has been a suggestion of community leaders for a number of years and in fact has been the topic of conversation between the Board leadership of the two organizations for quite some time, both to increase the efficiencies of feeding those in need and to eliminate confusion in the community about the roles of these two organizations. With this announcement, this vision will become a reality.
In describing the importance of this announcement to the community, Mr. Hendrickson stated, “I believe that this announcement today will be viewed as one of the most positive and most significant in the mid-Michigan community in many years. We have two organizations that truly care about feeding hungry people coming together to do exactly that. The American Red Cross has always viewed the MMFB as an asset of the community, and as such we will be transferring the building and other assets to the GLFB to facilitate a successful consolidation.”
Mr. Busch concurred. “This is the right action at the right time for our community. Unfortunately, there are many people, individuals and families, the old and the young, who are hurting in this ongoing difficult economic environment. By combining these two organizations we have the ability to more efficiently feed those in need. Although many of the details of this consolidation remain to be worked out, both organizations are now publicly committed to make this happen. That is why we have announced a goal to get this completed by July 1, 2012. We sincerely appreciate the support of the community toward both organizations and the decision of the leadership of the Red Cross to transfer the MMFB to the GLFB.”
Hunger in the mid-Michigan communities, as measured by the Ingham County Health Department this past summer, has increased by more than 15% over the past year. This, combined with rising food prices, is making the need to meet this challenge even greater. Mr. Busch said. “For this combination to be successful and effective, we will need to stay focused on our collective missions. In addition, our community, which has been so supportive, will once again be called upon to help us meet this growing need. The major fund raiser for the Greater Lansing Food Bank, the Envelope Campaign, will kick off next week. We use these donated funds to make food available around our community at no cost to recipients. It is only because of community support that we have been able to make certain that no one will go hungry in mid Michigan.”
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