Markell Miller

Food Gatherers is bridging the gap this summer by providing free meals to schoolchildren at several locations throughout Washtenaw County. WEMU’s Ana Longoria has the details.

A national partner of Food Gatherers, Feeding America, has released new data showing the number of people facing food insecurity in Washtenaw County has risen. WEMU’s Ana Longoria reports.

When the pandemic hit and we shut down, those living paycheck-to-paycheck suddenly faced the prospect of going hungry. But federal money was dedicated to providing a safety net. Many of those additional benefits have now ended, and not everyone is back to work and on their financial feet. So what now? Locally, an emergency food fund was established, and that program will continue as benefits for the SNAP assistance program drop. Markell Miller is director of Community Food Programs at Food Gatherers in Ann Arbor. She joined WEMU's David Fair to share the ongoing efforts to keep people fed.