Southeast Michigan letter carriers participate in nationwide food drive
Communities across the country, including in Southeast Michigan, are doing their part to help people struggling with hunger.
Letter carriers collected food donations on Saturday.
"What this does is it fills the food pantries up through the summer months, because that's when they need it most," Dave Zarek, a media representative with the Letter Carriers' Food Drive, said.
Pasta, cereal, and canned goods in the bags collected mean families struggling to afford groceries have one less thing to worry about.
"With this, they don't have to worry about the food aspect. They can take care of their medicine and the other bills that they really, really need," Zarek said.
The food collected was distributed to food pantries like Gleaners and Redford Interfaith Relief.
Sarah Goad, the director at Redford Interfaith Relief, says in just the last few months, they've seen a dramatic increase in clients in need.
"In October of last year, we went from 300 to 400 families. So that, you know, it's been 60% over four years, but 25% just in the last six months," Goad said.
The nonprofit director added that there are a few reasons why she believes the need is so great right now.
"The SNAP benefits. It's people that are, they just can't figure out how to fit 80 hours of volunteer service into their lives in order to continue their benefits. So, they're losing them left and right. Gas, we have people that have started walking here, people that just don't drive anymore because they can't afford $4.50, $5 a gallon," Goad said.
Volunteers on Saturday sorted through the donations by category and stocked the shelves for clients to shop.
"The total that's brought in today represents about three months of supplies for our organization. It'll be spread out from three to nine months from now, but it is it's 25% of our annual groceries," Goad said.
The 33rd annual event is the largest single-day food drive in the country. In Michigan alone, more than 1 million pounds of food are collected.