More people need help getting food on the table this month amid cuts to food assistance, frozen paychecks for federal workers and the upcoming holiday season.
The City of Lansing is responding by giving $10,000 to the Greater Lansing Food Bank to help boost two drive-through mobile food distributions this month.
Those added funds will provide meals for 200 families.
Michelle Lantz, the food bank’s CEO, said during these last few weeks, some mobile distributions have been serving double the typical number of households.
The food bank facilitates around 30 mobile food drives every month in Mid-Michigan. Lantz said the ones that serve around 200 families are “inching up to serve closer to 300 or 350.”
“Our own mobile that we do at Greater Lansing Food Bank once a month, often we have between 200 or 250 vehicles,” she said. “This last time, we had over 500 vehicles that came through. The cars were lined out down the road, out onto the main drive all the way into Bath.”
The Greater Lansing Food Bank has served the community for more than 40 years and has been through prior food access crises. Lantz said the food bank will always be able to help.
“We’ve seen the rise and fall of emergencies like this before,” Lantz said. “We are always here to meet the need. However, we don’t do it alone. We need the help of the community, everyone from individuals to corporations, to donate money and food during this time, to help volunteer, so we can meet that need.”
The next mobile food distribution will be Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 5:30 in the evening. It will take place at the Tabernacle of David Church in southwest Lansing.
The second supported by Lansing funding will be on Nov. 15 at the South Church of the Nazarene.
Mid-Michigan residents can be connected with more food resources by calling 211.
