OAK PARK, Mich. – As part of its 25th Anniversary commemoration, Forgotten Harvest reflected on the significant progress the non-profit food rescue organization and community partners have made toward relieving hunger and preventing nutritious food waste in metro Detroit. Despite rescuing over 48 million pounds of food last year, Forgotten Harvest’s work is “Far From Done,” according to CEO Kirk Mayes, who announced several initiatives to further its mission.
Forgotten Harvest is one of America’s largest, and metro Detroit’s only, food rescue organizations. The anniversary event included Forgotten Harvest executives, board members, founder Dr. Nancy Fishman, staff, community and business leaders, foundations, volunteers and donors.
“Together, we have made great strides over the past 25 years, but our job at Forgotten Harvest is ‘Far From Done,’” Mayes said. “One in five people, nearly 672,000 people, still face hunger and poverty in metro Detroit. Every year, 70 billion pounds of food is wasted in our country. We are firm in our resolve and conviction that we will see the day that no child, no family, no senior in metro Detroit will have to face the indignity of hunger or lack of food.”
Forgotten Harvest announced several initiatives that will help sustain the organization and offer potential new revenue streams in the future as it continues its core mission and innovative rescue model. These include:
- Forgotten Harvest brand of premium food products, which are expected to arrive for sale in the summer of 2015 at Kroger and Busch’s Fresh Food Market stores in southeast Michigan. There will be up to 30 different product items, including salad dressings, chips and salsas, hot sauces, trail mixes, premium confections, jams and jellies. Area food manufacturers will have the opportunity to grow distribution and increase sales through cause marketing by licensing their products under the Forgotten Harvest brand name. All profits from the sale of Forgotten Harvest branded food products will go to feed the hungry.
- Forgotten Harvest’s for-profit social enterprise subsidiary Hopeful Harvest, whose processing center and commercial kitchen will enable independent food entrepreneurs to process their products economically and efficiently. Hopeful Harvest has 24 commercial accounts that span the complete spectrum of food retailing. There are currently seven employees. Employment is expected to double by the end of the year. Growth will continue as needed based on demand. Hopeful Harvest has initiated a workforce development program for food manufacturing and processing in partnership with Michigan State University and Southwest Solutions. The focus is to employ veterans and employment-challenged individuals. All Hopeful Harvest profits go to feed the hungry.
- 25th Anniversary Jeep Raffle – The Jeep brand has partnered with Forgotten Harvest to sponsor the raffle, which will include a top prize of a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4×4, and separate cash prizes of $10,000 and $2,500. The $50 per ticket raffle kicks off April 15. More details and opportunities to purchase tickets will be available at that time. Raffle ticket proceeds benefit the mission and operations of Forgotten Harvest.
- The Harold & Kay Challenge Grant, in which $50,000 was anonymously donated in recognition of the organization’s 25th anniversary and will serve as a matching grant challenge. Every dollar matched will provide 10 meals for those in need.
25 Years of Impact
Forgotten Harvest humbly began out of the back of a Jeep by Dr. Fishman who herself, at one time, stood in line to get food assistance. At that point, she had a 2-year-old daughter, had not finished her education and, like so many metro Detroiters, was struggling to make ends meet. She made a commitment to help others in need of food assistance. Through her remarkable drive and perseverance, she completed a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, attended Harvard Law School’s Program on Advanced Negotiation and, using her own vehicle, began rescuing food from local events and religious celebrations.
When an elderly couple read about Dr. Fishman’s desperate need for a van to increase her services to those in need, they made an anonymous donation that paid for the organization’s first refrigerated truck.
Last year alone:
- Forgotten Harvest rescued over 48 million pounds of food for those in need that might have otherwise gone to waste in landfills.
- On a daily basis, Forgotten Harvest trucks covered 2,000 square miles and stopped at 800 locations – area grocers, food manufacturers, dairies, farmers and food distributors – to rescue perfectly good meats, dairy, produce and fruits that might otherwise have gone to waste.
- The donated rescued food was delivered same day, free-of-charge, to over 280 agencies in the metro Detroit area.
- Forgotten Harvest Farms, on 115 acres of land donated by Nora Moroun and her family, harvested over 1.4 million pounds of fresh produce in only its second year of operation. It is the largest non-profit farm in the country.
- 16,000 volunteers assisted at the headquarters/warehouse facility and Forgotten Harvest Farms, dedicating over 92,000 hours of service to help those less fortunate.
About Forgotten Harvest
Oak Park, Michigan-based Forgotten Harvest was formed in 1990 to fight two problems: hunger and waste. Forgotten Harvest “rescued” over 48 million pounds of food last year by collecting surplus prepared and perishable food from 800 locations, including grocery stores, fruit and vegetable markets, restaurants, caterers, dairies, farmers, wholesale food distributors and other Health Department-approved sources. This donated food, which would otherwise go to waste, is delivered free-of-charge to 280 emergency food providers in the metro Detroit area. Forgotten Harvest has been ranked as a four-star charity by Charity Navigator for eight consecutive years. Learn more about Forgotten Harvest and how to help drive hunger from our community at www.forgottenharvest.org.
Source: Forgotten Harvest