Saturday from 8-11:30 a small group headed to the foodbank to disaggregate pallets of "dent and scratch" baked goods and repack into smaller (banana) boxes for variety and totting convenience of agencies buying/receiving the goods. Later we did similar work with frozen chicken strips. A group of pre-Veterinary MSU students helped, too.
FACTS: the coordinator of 13 years said that pre-FoodBanks this considerable volume would have ended in the landfill. Protein sources like peanut butter and canned tuna seldom comes in, so they are authorized to stock and distribute this by purchasing wholesale. So they gladly accept money donations, in addition to foodstuffs. Formerly the foodbank network was part of SecondHarvest. This location near Lansing airport doubles as a Red Cross donation center, so givers are asked to choose whether it should be for disaster relief, for example, or for foodbanks. About 170 (?) agencies from 7 counties in mid-Michigan rely on this online sourcing of food and non-perishables, including baby pantries, church banks, etc. There is a trading network among the foodbanks across the country, too, using credits rather than cash.
Just imagine if state and national legislators took a turn or two as volunteers. Soon they would appreciate the valuable service this provides, and indeed, they would understand the extent of the population that depends for sustenance on these nutritional sources.
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