FeedsCool deal
Canton Foundation funds purchase of walk-in cooler for food pantry
Sometimes, good work pays off.
Just ask Steve and Jackie Darr, the volunteer coordinators at the Open Door Ministry in Canton Township where a new walk-in cooler was recently installed, courtesy of the Canton Community Foundation.
The board of directors approved the purchase of the $6,500 cooler to meet the increasing needs of the community. The Canton-based food pantry feed people from west Wayne County and Ypsilanti and has distributed nearly 700,000 pounds of food this year.
More than 400 families receive food each week, according to the Darrs, and they estimate that more than 36,663 people have been helped by the food pantry to date.
According to reports from the pantry, there has been a 42 percent increase in numbers of families requesting food over last year.
“This new cooler triples the fresh fruit and vegetable capacity, just in time for the increased demand,” Steve Darr said. “Our guests are eager to take these nutritious items home to their families.”
He added that approximately 6,000 pounds of food is placed in the new cooler each week. “Without this cooler, we could not keep this amount of food fresh each week.”
Joan Noricks, president of the Canton Community Foundation said that the board of directors approved the grant from the
Community Fund and the Jim and Linda Demmer donor Advised Fund.
“Canton Community Foundation takes the big picture view of tough challenges and responds to community needs and leverages resources to create lasting change.
“This grant represents the Canton Community Foundation’s recognition of the hardships many local residents are enduring and our efforts to alleviate some of the difficulties,” she said.
The Open Door Ministry is the food distribution network of Gleaners Community Food Bank and Forgotten Harvest.
“Open Door does an excellent job at distributing food to the hungry in an efficient and compassionate manner with the ultimate goal to enable families to provide food for themselves,” Noricks added.
More information about the foundation is available at (734) 495-1200.
