Join Gleaners and Weingartz to Mow Down Hunger

Meal assistance is a crucial service to families in the Metro Detroit area. Nearly 300,000 local kids rely on free or reduced-fee meals during the school year and often miss meals over the weekend. From Tuesday, September 13 through Tuesday, October 11, Gleaners and Weingartz are working together to provide healthy meals to these kids through Mow Down Hunger.

During the Mow Down Hunger Campaign, Weingartz will match every donation Gleaners receives with a goal of providing one million meals. Last year, Mow Down Hunger provided more than 1.8 million nutritious meals to Michigan kids.

“I am truly grateful for the Weingartz family’s longstanding commitment to solving child hunger in southeast Michigan,” said Gleaners President Gerry Brisson. “With their support, and the tremendous response that their generosity inspires from the community, Gleaners is able to nourish thousands of hungry children every month. Together we are giving these kids the nutritious food they need to succeed in school and in life, and improving the health of their families and neighborhoods.”

Mow Down Hunger helps alleviate the problem of childhood hunger by distributing frozen meat, fresh produce, and other nutritious food to 75-100 households. Gleaners anticipates providing 60 monthly distributions of 30-35 pounds each, serving 8,000 families.

The campaign will also support the BackPack program, a partnership with local schools to deliver backpacks on Fridays filled with nutritious food to kids who rely on free or reduced-fee meals at school during the week. The backpacks are filled by schoolchildren who volunteer for Gleaners’ Kids Helping Kids program.

To help Gleaners in the Mow Down Hunger Campaign, you can either make a monetary donation or donate nonperishable food. All Weingartz locations are accepting monetary and nonperishable food donations through October 11. Click here to view store locations and hours.

To donate money directly to Gleaners, either

• Donate online here
• Call 866-GLEANER (453-2637), or
• Mail a check payable to Gleaners Community Food Bank (P.O. Box 44050 Detroit, MI 48244-0050).