The Fundraising Page of Keyla Shillingford

Spring Food Drive

The Rotary Fights Child Hunger fund drive is our annual spring food and fund drive to support meals for children who do not have access to free and reduced-price meals when school is out for the summer. This year, the drive will primarily be collecting funds to support Food Gatherers - Washtenaw County’s only food rescue and food bank program - to fight child hunger in our community. All gifts of $25 or more will be matched up to $10,000 by the Harold and Kay Peplau Family Fund. More than 80 local businesses and organizations, and local Rotary Clubs will collect funds and non-perishable food items for Food Gatherers to distribute to 170 non-profit partners and programs working to alleviate hunger in our community. Examples of these partners include the Salvation Army, Dawn Farm, Ozone House, Peace Neighborhood Center, Perry Nursery School, Dexter Senior Center, SOS Community Services, the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, and Hope Clinic.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the demand for food resources in Washtenaw County. In the first six months of the pandemic child food insecurity in our community doubled; today the rate is decreasing, but still remains 12% higher than before the pandemic. Many schools and workplaces have returned to in-person and if your location would like to collect food items, that is wonderful and appreciated, but raising funds allows Food Gatherers to use its bulk buying power to distribute more food in our community and will remain our focus. Before the pandemic, 1 in 7individuals living in Washtenaw County faced food insecurity, meaning they didn't have reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Now, almost two years into the pandemic, more of our neighbors, friends, and co-workers are relying on Food Gatherers to feed themselves and their families. Since March 2020, Food Gatherers has distributed record-breaking amounts of food to address the significant rise in food insecurity as a result of the pandemic.

The goal of the RotaryFights Child Hunger food drive is to gather food and funds to provide 150,000 meals.

Your gift today will support Food Gatherers work feeding children throughout our community. Thank you!

$51

raised

155

meals raised of 150,000 goal

2

supporters

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In Support of Food Gatherers

Our Mission: Food Gatherers exists to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes in our community.

We rescue local food and leverage state and national food resources for hunger relief. We lead a network of hunger relief providers and engage the public in the fight against hunger. We create and sustain innovative new food programs in response to emerging needs. We recognize that hunger will not be solved through the provision of food alone, so we advocate for policies and system changes to create an equitable food system.