(WXYZ) — Fighting hunger and food insecurity is the mission of Forgotten Harvest. The non-profit delivers 144,000 pounds of surplus food per day, five days a week, to local charities in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
All of it is donated by local restaurants, wholesalers, bakeries, caterers, hospitals and more.
But the operation wouldn't be possible without the "volunteer corp," as I found out on a couple of trips to the warehouse recently.
Whether it's packaging non-perishable food boxes or putting together summer lunches, Forgotten Harvest is a year-round operation. it wouldn't run without the volunteers.
RELATED: DONATE TO FORGOTTEN HARVEST
“What do you like most about volunteering here?” I asked.
“Oh, you know, it makes you feel, you know, that you realize there are other people who are more in need," Aurora Enriquez, one of the volunteers said.
Enriquez is a retired nurse from St. Clair Shores. She volunteers twice a week at the new Forgotten Harvest warehouse in Oak Park. There, individuals work alongside corporate volunteers, like Jason Marentette with DTE Energy.
The assembly line system is a lot of fun, as I learned a couple of days earlier. I jumped in to help pack summer lunches with volunteers, including first-timer Reggie Yarbrough from Southfield.
"It’s just a wonderful thing to do. And it helps so many. And you never see them, but you know just by the boxes that we pack that it’s helping some people.," Yarbrough said.
George Gomez of Royal Oak has been volunteering here for more than two years.
"So, you decided in retirement that you wanted to make coming to Forgotten Harvest a part of your weekly routine?" I asked George.
"Without a doubt, because I knew it would be the kind of routine and activity that I would enjoy. And I also knew that it would help the community," he said.
People can volunteer at the warehouse on 8 Mile in Oak Park, and at two different food pantries and a farm in Fenton.
John McLaurin is the sort line supervisor who oversees the warehouse volunteers.
“It feels good to know it, especially because a lot of the neighborhoods that we help out I actually stayed in. So, I actually know how it feels to have to need it. I’ve also been on the receiving end of this before. So, it means a lot to me," he said.
The volunteers are at the heart of what Forgotten Harvest is all about.
Forgotten Harvest staff call the volunteers the backbone of the organization.
That's because if they don't have enough volunteers, food may not be repacked that day, and because much of it is perishable, it could be thrown away, which is a waste for the organization, but more importantly, a loss for the community's most vulnerable who needed that food.
To volunteer, you must be at least 12 years old, and any volunteers must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. For more information on volunteering, visit their website.
