Feeding The. IlungrY
Michigan food agencies work together with no religious boundaries.
SHELLI DORFMAN
Staff-Writer
W
ith a single goal
of feeding the
hungry, Michigan
food banks draw
no line between the Jewish and
non-Jewish communities.
"It's a real collaboration —
we all work together," stresses
Helen Kozlowski, executive
director of the Pontiac-based
Food Bank of Oakland
County. It's one of six
Michigan food banks under
the umbrella of the national
Second Harvest organization.
The six do not provide food
directly to individuals but dis-
tribute it to pantries and shel-
ters that purchase membership
in the Food Bank. Those
members then receive food
which they, in turn, distribute
to individuals. Among the 145
member agencies, to whom
they provide food for 60,000
individuals a month, are five
Jewish organizations, includ-
ing the Oak Park-based Yad
Ezra, Michigan's only kosher
food pantry.
Because the Michigan agen-
cies help one another, Yad Ezra
Development director Lea Luger
says Yad Ezra gets usable, kosher food
items, as available, from the Food Bank
of Oakland County. Making certain
"nothing gets wasted," Yad Ezra gives the
non-kosher donations it receives to other
agencies, primarily Gleaners Community
Food Bank in Detroit.
In addition to Yad Ezra, other
Jewish organizations benefiting from
Food Bank of Oakland County mem-
bership are Jewish Home and Aging
Services, JARC (Jewish Association for
Residential Care), the Jewish
Community Adult Day Care Program
and Jewish Vocational Service.
Kozlowski says each member
agency picks up, or has delivered from
the Food Bank, items it orders from a
regularly updated list of available food.
The list specifies kosher foods with the
"K" (for kosher) and "OU"
(Orthodox Union) symbols.
Most foods on the list are pur-
chased at 12 cents per pound, regard-
less of their actual value. A "free wall"
area also is available; member agencies
can obtain at no charge such items as
fresh vegetables and fruit, bread, bot-
tled water and pastries. Kozlowski says
this is a popular way for Jewish mem-
ber agencies to receive items, such as
produce, that do not need to have
kosher certification.
Organizations, such as Jewish
Home and Aging Services, "shop" at
the Food Bank because they can use
perishable items immediately in meal
preparation — unlike Yad Ezra, which
stores and later distributes its food.
A third category provided by the
Food Bank is wholesale foods. "Things
we have to go out and buy, like pow-
dered milk, which is never donated,
and special needs items, like kosher
foods, are requested by specific agen-
cies, and then purchased and resold at
wholesale prices," Kozlowski says.
A special Food Bank of Oakland
County fund, The Kosher Fund, has
been established so donors can ear-
mark gifts, ensuring they are used for
kosher food purchases only.
This fund was implemented under
the direction of Howard Zoller.
Former president of both the Food
Bank of Oakland County and Yad
Ezra, Zoller was among the active
food bank members who founded Yad
Ezra.
Of the food received by the
Food Bank of Oakland County,
Kozlowski says only 20 percent is
kosher — not nearly enough to
meet the need. But, she says, "We
do our part here to work with
our Jewish friends, and I am hon-
ored to fund-raise for what Yad
Ezra and the others need."
Zoller says the Food Bank of
Oakland County "provides for
those who are Jewish and non-
Jewish." By the same token, Yad
Ezra, even with its kosher sta-
tus, will not turn away those
who are not Jewish.
Last month, the Food Bank
of Oakland County unveiled a
new repacking room. Donations
are commonly received in bulk
quantity, too large to distribute
to member agencies. With a
lack of usable sanitary space,
there was no place for the food
to be sorted into smaller por-
tions. The McGregor Fund and
the Young Foundation funded
the $50,000 addition to their
facility, Kozlowski says.
Jewish Vocational Services
volunteers were the first to work
in the new room. Food repacked
in the new space includes items
also distributed by Gleaners,
whose president, Richard
Loewenstein, had the same
dilemma of large-sized donations need-
ing to be broken down.
Working together, Gleaners provides
storage of the Food Bank's products in
its larger Detroit warehouse, when nec-
essary. Kozlowski says this is a part of
sharing and helping one another. She
says none of the organizations is a com-
petitive business. "We are food banks
here to help people," she says. El
To make a donation or for
information, call the Food Bank
of Oakland County at (248)
332-1473: Yad Ezra at (248)
548-3663; and Gleaners 11:
(313) 923-3535.
12/10
1999
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