Meijer BeBop and Pixie Drone (Courtesy, GVSU/Meijer)
By Brian Vernellis
GVSU Communications
Grand Valley State University’s Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) will showcase an innovative, remote-controlled beach-cleaning device designed and deployed to collect refuse and plastic litter from Michigan beaches along the Great Lakes shorelines.
A Few Friends for the Environment of the World (AFFEW), a Ludington-based environmental nonprofit group, has invited the AWRI to publicly demonstrate the litter capture and cleanup device, called the BeBot, for an upcoming beach cleanup scheduled for July 17, from 7-8:30 p.m., at Ludington’s Stearns Park.
Models estimate as much as 22 million pounds of plastic every year could be entering the Great Lakes, the source of drinking water for 40 million Americans and Canadians. Plastic in the lakes and surrounding watersheds will cost hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars annually to combat.
Cleanup technology
Since 2022, Meijer has donated close to $2 million to the Council of the Great Lakes Region Foundation to expand the deployment of two plastic litter cleanup technologies, the BeBot and Pixie Drone. This is part of the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Program, a joint initiative of the Council of the Great Lakes Region and Pollution Probe in Canada.
Jamie Cross, outreach and science education instructor at AWRI, will be at Stearns Park to talk about BeBot and AWRI’s participation in the project.
The public is invited
AFFEW invites the public to watch BeBot in action as well as volunteer in the cleaning of Stearns Park’s beach.
Participants should meet at the south concession stand in Stearns Park. Bags and gloves will be provided.
For more information about this event or AFFEW, visit affew.org.
Meijer is joining with The Rapid for a job fair on Wednesday. (Supplied)
This “Roll With Us” fair will run from 4 – 8 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 5 on The Rapids’ Central Station and will help job seekers explore working for The Rapid and job opportunities at partner locations along bus routes. The fair will include West Michigan’s two largest employers, Spectrum Health and Meijer, as well as opportunities with Mary Free Bed, Kellogg’s, Gerald R. Ford Job Corps, and Hope Network.
“We are so excited to partner for this job fair,” said Micalah Webster, talent selection manager with Spectrum Health. “It’s a great opportunity to connect with the community, share information with job seekers, and highlight many of the positions we have available, from patient-facing roles delivering care to roles behind the scenes that help keep our business running. Many of the positions we are hiring for are in locations served by The Rapid.”
Hosting the fair at Rapid Central Station makes attendance more accessible to people without personal vehicles. Attendees can take Routes 1 through 15 and the Silverline directly to the job fair. For job seekers traveling by car, free parking will be available in the lot in front of Rapid Central Station at 250 Cesar E. Chavez with the entrance on Williams Street.
The Rapid will be offering on-site interviews and making offers for bus operators and vehicle technicians at the “Roll With Us” job fair. The transit agency offers paid training, great benefits, and the opportunity to work with a group of people who take pleasure and pride in making an important difference in the lives of others.
Spectrum Health also has many opportunities available for job seekers. “We offer a wide variety of opportunities, including entry-level positions with on-the-job training,” Webster said. These positions offer a great way to get started in healthcare, even if an applicant does not have experience, and can lead to long-term careers.”
The job fair will feature Mexcellente, a local food truck, to give participants a chance to purchase food while exploring career options.
The Rapid is hosting a job fair at its Central Station on Wednesday. (Supplied)
Although The Rapid has hosted job fairs in the past, this is its first venture inviting partners to participate. Employers choose to invest in this community because it provides transportation options for its employees. Public transit serves as an economic engine and partnerships are fundamental to the success of transit and growing a more sustainable community.
“The Rapid provides more than just transportation – we create opportunities and connections within our community,” The Rapid CEO Deb Prato said. “We’re excited to welcome our partners to the Roll With Us job fair to connect transit riders with transit-friendly employers. I’m also excited to meet the people who choose to join our team as operators and technicians. The people in these roles are the backbone of our organization and community.”
Shortly after his organization received a significant $2 million donation from Meijer on Tuesday, Kenneth Estelle called it a beyond-expectations commitment.
“The amount of the gift is amazing,” said Estelle, president and CEO of Feeding America West Michigan. “We are not an organization that typically gets a million dollar donation or gift, so having a $2 million gift from Meijer was more than amazing.
Feeding America West Michigan President and CEO Kenneth Estelle speaks at his organization’s advancement campaign event at its new facility Tuesday in Kentwood. (WKTV)
“It really showed that we have a significant partner that believes in what we’re doing and is willing to put some significant money where the belief is.”
The $6 million advancement campaign, Nourish Tomorrow, was developed to move the food bank’s headquarters and distribution center from Comstock Park to 3070 Shaffer Avenue, SE in Kentwood.
Challenges worsened by the pandemic, and a continuing effort to provide more equitable service in all its 40 counties, pushed the food bank’s current Comstock Park facility to operate beyond its capacity.
Ultimately, this facility will enable the food bank to nearly double its food distribution to nourish more Michigan residents.
“Meijer has supported our work for more than 30 years,” Estelle said. “They provide millions of pounds of food, donate semi-trucks and give generous financial gifts like this one.”
The campaign has raised $4.7 million over the last several months — 78 percent of its goal. To date, nearly 100 local donors, businesses and area foundations have supported the campaign, including the large gift from Meijer.
Meijer President and CEO Rick Keyes speaks at a Feeding America West Michigan event Tuesday. (WKTV)
“We’ve been partners with Feeding America West Michigan for over 30 years, and you just see the impact and the need that’s in our community,” said Rick Keyes, president and CEO of Meijer. “The impact that they’re able to make is really incredible, so we look for partners like them. Hunger relief is at the core of some of the work we do in the community.”
Serving local families in need since 1981, Feeding America West Michigan reclaims millions of meals worth of safe, surplus food from various sources. With the help of countless volunteers, the food bank sorts, stores and distributes this food through a network of more than 700 partners to fill hundreds of thousands of neighbors’ plates instead of landfills.
The food bank’s service area consists of 40 of Michigan’s 83 counties from the Indiana border north through the Upper Peninsula. For more information, visit FeedWM.org or call 616-784-3250.
Officials at the ground break ing for the new Kids’ Food Basket headquarters.
By WKTV Staff
Kids’ Food Basket hosted an official naming ceremony and groundbreaking on Wednesday, Oct. 11, officially kick off the construction of the new organization’s home at the former Pickerd Farm, 1919 Leonard St. NE. Founding CEO, Bridget Clark Whitney welcomed more than 100 guests, including community leaders Hank Meijer, Executive Chairman Meijer and Honorary Co-Chair; Joe Jones, 2nd Ward Commissioner City of Grand Rapids and Campaign Cabinet Member; and Dave Hildenbrand, Senator – State of Michigan.
To mark the occasion, the organization unveiled the farm name, Kids’ Food Basket Farm Strengthened by Nutrilite Exclusively by Amway. The name was selected in honor of Nutrilite’s monetary support, volunteer support, and shared methodologies on the farm. A portion of the acreage on the future Kids’ Food Basket site is used to educate youth and adults alike on the immense value of nutrition through innovative programs and experiential learning.
“We are so thankful for the dedication of our community! The Kids’ Food Basket future home will meet both an immediate need and make long term impact. This beautiful, centennial farm has provided a space, in the middle of Grand Rapids, to launch an urban farming and experiential learning program. Here we can put down our roots and directly connect kids experiencing hunger to a greater understanding of healthy food, helping them create healthy habits life-long.,” said Clark Whitney.
A rendering of the proposed Kids’ Food Basket headquarters to be located at 1919 Leonard St. NE.
In the second year working on the chemical-free, sustainable farm, the harvest has yielded more than 10,000 pounds of fresh sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, string beans, tomatillos, and mini bell peppers. In addition, the farm has allowed the opportunity to welcome more than 40 groups, totaling approximately 1,000 youth and adult volunteers. The community has engaged in and learned about food production, tending to crops and preparing produce to go in Sack Suppers.
“We couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with Kids’ Food Basket and this new urban farm,” said Michelle Meulendyk of Amway Community Relations. “It has been and will continue to be a way for us to extend the expertise of our Nutrilite farming practices and staff right here in Grand Rapids.”
In addition to the farm, the site will be the home to a new Kids’ Food Basket production facility. Orion Construction will build a 27,000 square foot, two-story building that will house corporate office space and warehouse space on 15-acre site. The building will be constructed using the LEED (Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design) framework and upon completion, will be LEED certified. Within the design are elements such as natural light maximization, low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, caulks, adhesives, and floor coverings, alternative vehicle considerations, and several other features that provide elements of sustainability. Additional greenhouses and farm-support structures are included in the projects that create on-site learning opportunities.
“Kids’ Food Basket’s future location will allow for expanded nutritional programming and increased access to healthy nourishing food for our community’s children. We’re thankful for the communities continued dedication. We must do more. We are asking our community to rally together and join Kids’ Food Basket’s mission of nourishing kids so they can be their best in school and in life,” Whitney said.
Kids’ Food Basket services in a number of schools in the Greater Grand Rapids area including schools in the Kentwood, Godfrey-Lee, Godwin Heights and Wyoming Public School Districts.
A Kelloggsvile is among 60 Michigan high school students who were named as finalists in the Meijer Great Choices Student Film Festival. More than 300 videos were submitted for the annual film festival.
Tiler DeWitt, who attends Kelloggsville High School, is in the running for the 60 awards totaling $21,150 in prizes that will be awards to students on Saturday June 2, for the winning entires in the 2018 Meijer Great Choices Film Festival. The 10 a.m. awards presentation will be at the Van Singel Fine Arts Center, 8500 Burlingame Ave. SW, Byron Center.
High School students from throughout the state, submitted more than 300 :30 public service announcement videos promoting positive choices in the areas of Character Education, Healthy Living, and Celebrating Diversity. There are two different audiences that the young filmmakers targeted in their PSA’s: Kindergarten through 6th or 7th through 12th grades. DeWitt submitted his film in the K-6 Celebrating Diversity category. The Meijer Great Choices competition was designed for Michigan student film makers to exhibit their creative talent in audio/visual communications and to share their messages with K-12 schools throughout Michigan.
High school students working on a film. Photo courtesy of School News Network.
Audio/Visual/Advertising students and professors from Compass College of Cinematic Arts, Ferris State University, Cornerstone University, Grand Valley State University, Northwood University and Western Michigan University were the preliminary judges and choose the anonymous finalists based on specific criteria. High school students throughout Michigan have been notified that they are finalists and are invited to participate in the June 2nd awards presentation activities. There are eighteen 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners that will be announced at the awards presentation who will receive prizes of $1,500, $1,000, or $500 in the form of a gift card to Meijer. The 42 runners up (fourth through tenth place winners) will each receive a gift card for $75. All of the finalists in attendance will receive an award and gift at the awards presentation.
All 60 of the top PSA’s will be shown at the Awards Reception at the Van Singel Fine Arts Center. In September, the winning PSA’s in each category will be reproduced on DVDs and distributed to schools across the state as tools for their Character Education, Health Education and Diversity programs.
The Meijer Great Choices Film Festival also awards 12 classroom grants totaling $3,300 to K-8 classrooms who submitted video entries in the Meijer Great Choices Junior Film Festival competition. These PSA videos will also be recognized at Saturday’s Awards event.
The purpose of the film festival is to highlight the talent of the state’s audio/visual students while allowing these students to make a positive impact on Michigan’s K-12 youth in the areas of Diversity, Character Education, and Healthy Lifestyles. The festival is in partnership with Meijer, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, The Vander Laan Family Foundation, and the Van Singel Fine Arts Center.
A Kelloggsville High School student has been named a finalist in the 2017 Meijer Great Choices Film Festival.
Kolton Toothman is among the 60 finalists. He submitted a film for the K-6 Celebrating Diversity category. He is in the running for awards totaling $21,150. Awards are scheduled to be presented on Saturday, June 3, at 10 a.m. at the Van Singel Fine Arts Center, located at the corner of Burlingame Avenue and 84th Street. The Van Singel Fine Arts Center is part of the Byron Center High School.
Students from throughout the state submitted nearly 400 thirty-second public service announcement videos promoting positive choices in the areas of Character Education, Healthy Living, and Celebrating Diversity. There are two different audiences that the young filmmakers targeted in their PSAs: kindergarten through sixth grade or seventh through twelfth grades. The Meijer Great Choices competition was designed for Michigan student filmmakers to exhibit their creative talent in audio/visual communications and to share their messages with K-12 schools throughout Michigan.
Audio/Visual/Advertising students and professors from Compass College of Cinematic Arts, Ferris State University, Cornerstone University, Grand Valley State University, Northwood University and Western Michigan University were the preliminary judges and choose the finalists based on specific criteria. High school students throughout Michigan have been notified that they are finalists and are invited to participate in the June 3rd awards presentation activities. There are eighteen first, second, and third place winners who will be announced at the awards presentation who will receive prizes of $1,500, $1,000, or $500 in the form of a gift card to Meijer or Apple. The 42 runners up (fourth through tenth place) will each receive a gift card for $75. All of the finalists in attendance will receive an award and gift at the awards presentation.
All 60 of the top PSAs will be shown at the Awards Reception at the Van Singel Fine Arts Center. In September, the winning PSAs in each category will be reproduced on DVDs and distributed to schools across the state as tools for their Character Education, Health Education and Diversity programs.
The Kent County Sheriff Departmentis partnering with local Meijer Stores to host the 15th annual ‘Shop With A Sheriff’ event, scheduled for 10 am on Sunday,Dec. 4 at the Gaines Twp Meijer at 1801 Marketplace Dr. SE.
The fun begins with a ride in a patrol car for a “lights and siren parade” around the Meijer parking lot and the kids are then dropped off in front of the store to partner with a Deputy for the shopping event.
Deputies volunteer their time to shop with a child and assist them with choosing necessities (coats, boots, hats, etc.) as well as a special gift that each child can choose for themselves or a family member. The Kent County Sheriff Department hopes to make this a special time of the year for approximately 120 underprivileged children.
More than 100 participating Meijer stores have paired underprivileged children with local area heroes to shop for holiday gifts for themselves and family as Meijer continues its annual holiday tradition with the ‘Shop with a Hero’ program.
All told, more than 3,500 children in the Midwest will shop 220 stores with local police officers, firefighters and veterans. Participants are also treated to pizza parties, visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus or food baskets.
This event is possible due to the contributions from local business and individuals as well as Meijer, which donated over $200,000 in gift cards to the program to make the holiday season a little brighter for kids and families across the region.
