Community groups in Washtenaw County expect to see an increase in food assistance demand during the holiday season because of the pandemic.
Since April, Food Gatherers in Ann Arbor has increased the amount of food distributed each month by about 30%. Meanwhile, the Hope Clinic in Ypsilanti saw its October demand for food assistance jump from about 500 people to almost 1,000 compared to last year during the same month. Emmeline Weinertis a spokesperson for the Hope Clinic and says they currently need food donations for Thanksgiving.
Emmeline Weinert: It would be wonderful to get things like cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing mixes, pie fillings, all of those items we would love to able to send home with folks these two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.
Due to limited space, the Hope Clinic is not accepting turkeys. For information on how donate the other items, click here. Food Gatherers also says that the projected rate of food insecurity in Washtenaw County is 15.3%, the pre-pandemic rate was 7.6%. In partnership with more than 170 pantries, Food Gatherers has also been coordinating hungry relief efforts to respond to the uptick in food insecurity. For a list of local food pantries, click here. For information on how to donate to Food Gatherers, click here.
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— Jorge Avellan is a reporter for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him javellan@emich.edu
