Food Bank Partner: Gleaners Food Bank of Southern Michigan

About: For over 38 years, Gleaners Food Bank of Southern Michigan has been focused on the entire community of southeast Michigan to help end hunger by providing nutritional , high quality food to its clients. GFBSM partners with Citizens Bank, who matches every donated dollar the food bank receives. This is a major contribution as GFBSM purchased 38% of the food they give to the hungry.

Backpack Program: The GFBSM has a backpack program that provides nutritious bags of food for local students who are on free or reduced lunch and who would otherwise not have food for the weekend. They also have a program called Smartbites, which provides schools with nutritious snacks for teachers to pass out to students who may be hungry throughout the school day or in afterschool tutoring programs.

Education: In 2013, Gleaners adopted a three-year strategy to continue the reduction of hunger in southeast Michigan by promoting self-sufficiency through education and access. They’ve come to the realization that hunger cannot be solved simply by feeding the hungry, but by educating people in budgeting, cooking and taking advantage of resources.

More about our impact with the Gleaners Food Bank of Southern Michigan.