20 | FEBRUARY 18 • 2021
T
emple Kol Ami in West
Bloomfield has been
running a food pantry
as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic since early July, and
even with a new year and vac-
cines being rolled out, the num-
ber of families taking advantage
of the pantry doesn’t seem to be
slowing down.
It started small with just a
few families, growing steadily.
At this point, it has grown to
feed more than 90 families a
week, reflective of the growing
local need. The pantry works in
partnership with Hazon, which
collects the food each week.
Originally intended to last
two to three months as a pop-
up pantry, TKA is now schedul-
ing two months ahead, knowing
the need isn’t going away any-
time soon.
The pantry is held every
Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2
p.m. A lot of the food the pan-
try gets from Hazon is food res-
cue — short-dated items at the
grocery store that didn’t sell.
The pantry is currently
drive-thru with times slotted
out in 30-minute windows so
there’s no backup of traffic. A
crew of at least 18 volunteers a
week help so people don’t have
to leave their cars. The pantry
is looking for more volunteers
as well.
The TKA pantry’s rise takes
place while Temple Israel’s food
pantry, which operates biweek-
ly, had to cancel from January
until mid-February because
of a scheduling issue with its
supplier.
“We really want to make sure
that we feed those who need
food and that no one goes hun-
gry in our community,
” TKA
Rebbetzin Jill Gutmann said.
Gutmann was the weekly
pantry coordinator at the begin-
ning of the operations, but as
time went on and the pantry
grew, TKA member Deb Ford
took over.
According to Gutmann,
many of the families taking
advantage of the pantry are
actually middle-class families
who have lost jobs and income
because of the pandemic, but
don’t necessarily qualify for gov-
ernment help.
Lee Schottenfels, who is
on the TKA board, has also
been instrumental in running
the pantry since the start.
Schottenfels created an informa-
tion flyer for TKA
’s pantry that
was added to the bags of Temple
Israel’s Food Pantry recipients,
which increased traffic to the
pantry as did the growing word-
of-mouth attention.
HELP FOR ‘NEIGHBORS’
Most of the “neighbors,” as
TKA calls the pantry-goers,
get three bags of food: one
perishable, one non-perishable
and one with protein.
Ford runs the website, takes
and receives phone calls from
neighbors and greets every
one of them each week per-
son-by-person.
Ford believes running the
food pantry is by far the most
meaningful thing she’s ever
done in her life.
“People are in tears and so
grateful,
” Ford said. “They
take pictures of the food they
make with what we give them,
and they send them to us.
They’re so grateful to be treated
like humans, like a neighbor.
They’re not just a number
in a line. We value them for
who they are, and that’s really
important.
”
Those interested can go on
the website signup.com/client/
invitation2/secure/118703491
9360152029/false#/invitation
and pick a day, time and how
many family members they’re
feeding. Once online spots for
a day fill up, Ford encourages
people to call or just arrive at
the pantry, as no one will be
turned away.
Ford said it appears the pan-
try is going to be a part of TKA
’s
congregation indefinitely or for
as long as Hazon can provide
them with food.
Temple Kol Ami pantry feeds
90 families every week.
Food for All
“We really want to make sure
food and that no one goes hun-
pantry coordinator at the begin-
perishable, one non-perishable
them with food.
“PEOPLE ARE IN
TEARS AND SO
GRATEFUL.”
— TEMPLE KOL AMI’S DEB FORD
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TKA
OUR COMMUNITY
Volunteers keep
busy at Temple
Kol Ami’s Food
Pantry.
Lee Schottenfels
works to distribute
turkeys to those
who need them.