VBT partners with Forgotten Harvest for Pop-Up Food Pantry

Van Buren Township and Forgotten Harvest have joined forces to host a Forgotten Harvest On The Go Mobile pantry distribution site to give away fresh and nutritious foods free-of-charge to area residents in need on most Tuesdays through the end of the year.
“We’re really excited about the partnership,” said Supervisor Kevin McNamara. “We believe the need for fresh food is greater now more than ever. It couldn’t be timelier, with the holiday season around the corner.”
The model for the pop-up pantry is “from truck to trunk.” Residents will drive up to the distribution area, located off the Community Services entrance at Township Hall (46425 Tyler Rd.), and volunteers will load fresh groceries into the vehicle of anyone in need. No pre-registrations. No extensive forms to fill out. Just a few basic questions that help FH volunteers determine the quantity of groceries to load up.
“Anyone can use this resource for other family members and neighbors who may not have easy access to transportation,” said Forgotten Harvest Director of Marketing and Communications Christopher Ivey.
Forgotten Harvest specializes in offering an assortment of fresh food and refrigerated proteins.
“We focus on a diversity of food during each distribution, which includes all the elements required for a USDA plate of food,” said Ivey. “We provide items that would be found on a weekly shopping list like milk, eggs, bread, chicken, pork, and a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.”
A portion of the fruits and vegetables come directly from the 93-acre Forgotten Harvest farm located in Fenton.”
Forgotten Harvest is one of biggest non-profit food pantries in metro Detroit, working directly with 800 food distributors. A big part of Forgotten Harvest’s mission is environmental. Founded as a “rescue model” to disrupt the waste of surplus food supplies going to grocery stores, Forgotten Harvest rescues 138,000 pounds of food a day and delivers the surplus to communities in metro Detroit.
The pop-up food pantry will be held weekly on Tuesdays until the New Year. Dates are: Oct. 27, Nov. 24 and Dec. 22 from 1 – 4 p.m. and Nov. 10, 17, and Dec. 1 and 8 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Forgotten Harvest is always looking for volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering at a pop-up food pantry, contact the Supervisor’s office at (734) 699-8910.
For more information about the Van Buren Township pop-up pantry visit https://vanburen-mi.org/ or https://www.forgottenharvest.org/