(WXYZ) — Forgotten Harvest has reported the need for its services has grown on average 20% over the last 12 months as food insecurity continues to grow.
Tuesday is WXYZ's "Day of Giving Back" in support of Forgotten Harvest because one in six people in metro Detroit faces hunger or food insecurity at some point in their life.
Feeding families and fighting food insecurity and hunger is what Forgotten Harvest is all about, and I got a chance to see behind the scenes of its operation.
Kiondra Kidd volunteers five days a week at Forgotten Harvest. It's a daily drill, sorting and repacking what amounts to millions of pounds of donated food every year.
Related: Donate to Forgotten Harvest as part of WXYZ's Day of Giving Back
Per day, a total of 144,000 pounds of surplus food is distributed, and it goes out to local charities six days a week to be provided to people in need, free of charge.
"When you think about where this food is going, how does that make you feel?” I asked oen of the volunteers.
"It's really heartwarming. I love that we can help and be part of helping our communities that are in need," Kate Cervantes said.
The need for fresh, nutritious food is growing.
"We're reaching over 750,000 households per year.” Forgotten Harvest CEO Adrian Lewis said.
According to Lewis, the need in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties has increased in the last 12 months on average by 20%. The non-profit distributes its rescued food to more than 200 agency partners.
“We're talking about local pantries, church and religious organizations, community centers, soup kitchens, Alicia. We are partnering with anyone that's willing to partner with us," Lewis said.
Those partners are seeing return visits from a larger number of people in Southeast Michigan.
It's a multi-faceted problem. There's the rise of inflation, the cost of goods in the grocery stores, the reduction in SNAP benefits, and some low-income families are not qualifying for the services they used to receive," Chris Ivey, the marketing director for Forgotten Harvest, said.
To help fill the gap from student lunch programs not running during the summertime, Forgotten Harvest will provide 100,000 lunches to kids during the summer.
“We've seen firsthand the amount of food that we're able to put into the community, but not only just food, balanced meals, nutritious meals, you know, fresh food. So, we really appreciate the community coming together, opening up their hearts, their wallets, and everyone that's giving today know that every dollar is making an impact," WXYZ General Manager Mike Murri said.
More than 800 food donors give to Forgotten Harvest every year, and preserving and properly storing that food before it's distributed happens at the Oak Park Warehouse.
Channel 7 and the Scripps Howard Fund are matching your donations up to $5,000.
