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

