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Ann Arbor’s Food Gatherers secures $85K to fight food insecurity in rural areas

Eileen Spring and Food Gatherers staff member hauling boxes packed by volunteers on Feb. 3, 2019 (Photo: Meredith Bruckner)

ANN ARBOR – Food Gatherers has secured an $85,000 federal grant on behalf of two partner agencies to combat hunger in rural communities.

The premier food rescue and food bank serving Washtenaw County was awarded the United States Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Food Assistance Program Reach and Resiliency Grant.

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Portions of the grant will go to Aid in Milan and Manchester Community Resource Center to address potential gaps in TEFAP coverage.

The two agencies serve rural communities with no public transportation access in Washtenaw County. With the grant funding, Food Gatherers will help the agencies host pop-up distributions and extend homebound delivery in rural communities to increase access to food.

“As the local food bank, we are thrilled to be able to access these federal dollars from the USDA,” president and CEO of Food Gatherers Eileen Spring said in a release. “These funds will bolster the efforts of two of our long-standing partners who provide such critical safety net services in their communities.”

The majority of the grant funding will go to Aid in Milan to purchase a delivery van to reach more people in Milan and Manchester.

The food for the program will come from Food Gatherers and TEFAP, a USDA donated food source for emergency food pantries and food banks.

“The Reach and Resiliency grant is a game-changer,” interim Executive Director at Aid in Milan Michele McGovern said in a release. “We believe that access to fresh and healthy food is for everyone, whether they can drive to us or not and the grant will allow us to expand our food pantry programs further into the community.

“We specialize in finding solutions to problems, but none of it would be possible without Food Gatherers swooping in with supplies and resources again and again. They are vital to our day to-day work and ultimately to our community. We couldn’t be more thankful for this partnership.”


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