Sumpter volunteers pass out 100 pizzas to the hungry in Detroit

On Aug. 13, Sumpter Senior Coordinator Mary Ann Watson loaded up the Sumpter Seniors’ new bus with a crowd of volunteers and headed to a Little Caesar’s shop in Southwest Detroit where they picked up the 100 pizzas they had ordered and forked over the rest of the $500 that was owed.
They had put down a deposit when making the order, said Lettie Sanders, one of the three Sumpter Quilters who had come up with the project to bring pizzas to the homeless in Detroit. The other two are Karen Mickens and Dee Patterson.
The three had put on a free Thanksgiving dinner two years ago and then gathered pajamas for a nursing home last year, along with making blankets for Open Arms Church.
This year the project was to pass out 100 free pizzas to the homeless in Detroit. Each homeless person got a whole, large pizza, along with a hygiene bag and a bottle of cold water. There also was a message in the bag: “May God Bless You. From Sumpter Township.”
Sanders said they first stopped at a freeway exit where people were gathered and handed out pizzas there. Then they went to the homeless shelter at Cass and Third, a church on East Jefferson, and then Eastern Market. That’s when they ran out and the homeless shared the pizzas with each other.
Sanders said a lot of the volunteers from Sumpter had never done anything like this before and, “It gave them a chance to appreciate where you are and where you could be.”
Karen Mickens’ daughter Tracy took off her socks and gave them to a woman who needed them.
Sanders said the group wanted to thank everyone who donated to the project. They are now working to decide on their next project.
Among those who got on the bus and rode to Detroit to pass out the pizzas were Ken Steward (a blind man who passed out water), Christine W., Barbara Hubbard, Margaret Rochon, Bev Powell, Deloris, Florence, Greg Sanders, Deacon Sanders, Tracy Mickens, Lettie Sanders, Karen Mickens, and Watson, their bus driver.