24 | DECEMBER 22 • 2022
W
hen Chad Techner
of Metro Food
Rescue, an
Oakland County nonprofit that
helps prevent food waste by dis-
tributing it back into the com-
munity, checked his phone in
between food rescue stops, he
wasn’t expecting an email from
CBS Evening News.
“When I’m on the road, I like
to check emails to see if there’s
anything urgent to reply to,
”
Techner, 41, of West Bloomfield
says. Techner, who also works
at the Ira Kaufman Chapel and
serves on the Gesher Human
Services executive board, is
no stranger to receiving many
emails, but he didn’t realize the
opportunity this particular one
would lead to.
The email inquiry was from a
producer at CBS Evening News
who was working on a story
about food waste. After chatting
with Techner for 15 minutes
about the work of Metro Food
Rescue, she said to him, “I think
you’re the one to tell this story.
”
A few weeks later, CBS
Evening News hit the ground
running. They sent an entire
crew to Metro Detroit to spend
a day filming the work of the
nonprofit organization. The
crew included the producer
who initially contacted Techner,
a camera guy, an audio tech, a
correspondent from Chicago
and two security personnel.
Techner’s friend and local
photographer Brad Ziegler also
joined the group to help take
behind-the-scenes photos of the
CBS Evening News production.
All in all, there were seven vehi-
cles following the Metro Food
Rescue truck throughout its
missions.
Together, they captured a day
in the life of Metro Food Rescue
— and the lives that were
changed by a simple good deed.
FEEDING THE COMMUNITY
Filming began at Metro Food
Rescue’s first stop at kosher
Jewish food pantry Yad Ezra,
which is one of the organiza-
tion’s main partners.
“They had non-perishables
that were not kosher,
” Techner
explains, “so we picked that up
and went down to the Seward
Sharing Table.
”
The Seward Sharing Table is
a tent in Detroit’s New Center
neighborhood where the com-
munity can drop off food for
people in need. “We do a big
drop there every Tuesday,
”
Techner says. “We’ll drop off a
couple pallets of food and then
the community comes out and
takes whatever they like or can
utilize from what we dropped
off.
”
Next on the agenda was a
stop at the Oakland County
Farmers Market in Waterford,
where Metro Food Rescue
picked up bread and produce
to then deliver to social services
organizations Oakland Hope
and Lighthouse in Pontiac.
“We started at Yad Ezra and
literally went from Detroit to
Pontiac and everywhere in-be-
tween,
” Techner says.
A GROUP EFFORT
Still, this is a typical day for
Metro Food Rescue, which is
on track to rescue more than
1.5 million pounds of food this
year.
Over the course of nearly
seven hours of filming, CBS
Evening News captured it all,
interviewing donors, recipients
and the Metro Food Rescue
team about the impact of these
missions.
“It was exciting and over-
whelming,
” Techner says of
being selected for the story. “It
was truly an honor. We’re all
doing amazing work.
”
Metro Food Rescue was
scheduled to appear as an eve-
ning segment on CBS Evening
News during the week of Dec.
19, though the exact date isn’t
set yet. Techner hopes more
people can learn about the orga-
nization’s mission to help sup-
port Metro Detroiters in need.
At the end of the day, how-
ever, he gives credit to the com-
munity — particularly that of
Metro Detroit.
“I could have only done this
here in this community,
” he says
of Metro Food Rescue’s work.
“The support that I’ve gotten
since day one has been amaz-
ing.
”
OUR COMMUNITY
BRAD ZIEGLER
A National
Audience
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Audience
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Metro Food Rescue
to be featured on
CBS Evening News
segment.
You can see the
CBS crew filming at
the drop-off center
in the New Center
area of Detroit.
Chad Techner
works to distribute
food throughout
Metro Detroit.