NOVEMBER 9 • 2023 | 33
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igher Hopes! is celebrating
10 years of distributing 1,000
complete Thanksgiving meal kits
allowing families to enjoy dinner at home
with loved ones.
These kits contain everything from a
12- to 14-pound turkey and all the sides,
including stuffing, Michigan potatoes,
yams, all of the ingredients for green bean
casserole, Zoup! Chicken Broth, Jiffy Corn
Muffin Mix, cranberry sauce, apples,
spices, Coca-Cola products, dessert and
much more, all of which is provided to
families who have children enrolled in the
Early Head Start Child Care Partnership
programs. For every family that gets a
turkey meal kit, they also get a $50 gas
card.
The organization says it has distributed
10,000+ meal kits and 3 million pounds of
food since 2014, with the help of more than
1,000 volunteers and with 97% of all profits
going toward hunger relief.
Working closely with Gleaners
Community Food Bank of Southeast
Michigan for its entire existence, Higher
Hopes! will once again utilize Gleaners
facilities to store all food donations and
pack up the meal kits. Pack-Up Day will
be held at Gleaners on Saturday, Nov. 18,
and Distribution Day will take place on
Monday, Nov. 20, at four Head Start sites in
Detroit.
Higher Hopes! is a registered 501(c)
(3) started by Bill Birndorf, owner of
Commerce-based Apple
Marketing Company.
Birndorf came up with the
idea for Higher Hopes!
the night of Thanksgiving
2013 after seeing a news
story about a woman who
struggled to buy a turkey
to celebrate Thanksgiving
in her own home with her family.
Seeing that, Birndorf immediately
wanted to get involved and help serve those
in need beyond existing food pantries.
“Sure enough, the next Thanksgiving,
we had four tractor trailers filled with
everything from the turkey to dessert,
”
Birndorf said.
Starting with that first year and every
year since, it’s been a group effort of
friends, family, other organizations and the
community at large pitching in to donate
financially and donate food for the meal
kits. Birndorf continues to raise money and
seek out donations each year and has even
put money into it himself.
In Michigan, one in nine people and one
in eight children face hunger, per Feeding
America. In Detroit, 69% of households
are food insecure, according to the Detroit
Food Policy Council.
Birndorf says if Higher Hopes! can help
even one person and their family, he’s a
happy man.
“These families really have to make
choices. It’s either food, medicine, rent or
gas for the car. A lot of these people don’t
get to celebrate Thanksgiving because they
just can’t afford to do so,
” he said.
Other Higher Hopes! events include
their Labor Day barbecue, where 1,000
meal kits are distributed in partnership
with Famous Dave’s; a program where
150,000 packages of sliced apples go to
seven of Michigan’s food banks; and a
partnership with Blessings in a Backpack
where 1,000 young students, each week
on Friday, go home with healthy food kits
that help them get through the weekend
without going hungry.
But Thanksgiving is the cornerstone of
what the organization does.
“It’s a tough existence when you live in
poverty, so this food really helps,
” Birndorf
said. “Our slogan is, ‘1,000 turkeys, 10,000
smiles.
’ And if you ever come to one of our
sites, you’ll see more smiles on people’s
faces than you’ll see all year.
”
For more information about Higher Hopes! and
to make food or monetary donations, visit www.
higherhopesdetroit.org or email volunteer@
higherhopesdetroit.org.
The organization has distributed 10,000+ meal kits
and 3 million pounds of food since 2014.
Higher Hopes! Celebrating
10-Year Anniversary
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
Volunteers get
ready to distribute
turkeys in 2022.
Bill Birndorf