By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
For the Family Network of Wyoming, the SpartanNash Foundation’s recent donation of $5,100 will have a big impact on what the organization can offer.
“It is the single largest donation we will get this year,” said Dale Echavarria, co-executive director of Family Network of Wyoming. “For about every dollar we take in, we can get about $10 of food. We feed more than 10,000 people a year. So for a small pantry like Family Network of Wyoming, the recent SpartanNash Foundation’s scan campaign for hunger relief really does make an impact.”
The Family Network of Wyoming was one of the top 10 fundraising efforts for this year’s SpartanNash Foundation’s scan campaign for hunger relief. From Oct. 23 to Nov. 3, patrons were asked if they wanted to scan up to donate to a local food pantry.
“What that means is that say your bill was $45 and you handed the cashier $50, the cashier would ask if you want to scan up to $50 to make a donation,” Echavarria said. “People could donate a dollar, $5, or $10 or round up to the nearest dollar and people did.”
In fact, SpartanNash reported that it raised $271,150 to support more than 100 local food pantries and food banks in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. In addition to the scan campaign, the SpartanNash Foundation also granted $5,000 to 15 food pantries located near SpartanNash food distribution and MDV distribution centers, bring the total donation to $346,150, equivalent to 3.5 million meals.
“What better way to say ‘thanks’ this Thanksgiving and holiday season than to provide vital funds to more than 100 local food pantries and food banks?” said Meredith Gremel, vice president of corporate affairs and communicants and the executive director of the SpartanNash Foundation. “These funds will be used to put food on so many families’ tables both during the holiday season and throughout the year, providing hunger relief where it’s needed most.”
Each SpartanNash store, which includes the Family Fare chain, selected a local community food partner its campaign would support. Echavarria said Family Network of Wyoming was fortunate to receive support from the two Family Fare stores in Wyoming, the one at the Metro Health Village and the one located on Burlingame Avenue.
“One of the things they let us do was set up a table and share flyers and brochures about what we do here at Family Network of Wyomig,” Echoavarria said. Family Network of Wyoming opened its doors in 2004. In its first year, the organization served 130,000 pounds of food to 1,400 households. Today, Family Network of Wyoming will serve more than 10,000 people. It has only two paid staff and operates with 43 volunteers who put n 1,200 hours a month.
Over the years, the Family Network of Wyoming has grown and expanded its services to offer food related programs: such as the the NOW program, as well as non-food programs and services: a durable medical equipment loan closet, annual Wyoming Christmas Store, and job skill classes. Echavarria said the organization also has developed the lead pantry concept, where it works with other pantries in the area to make sure that no extra food “gets wasted.”
Gremel said that an important aspect to the SpartanNash hunger relief campaign was to raise awareness about the Foundations food bank and food pantry partners — sharing the need for hunger relief with more than 2.7 million store guest during the 12-day program.
“They really walk the talk,” Echavarria said of SpartanNash, adding that along with the annual hunger campaign, SpartanNash has also provided food items to the pantry on a weekly basis.
“Wyoming has always been extremely generous,” Echavarria said, adding that last year a group of dentists and orthodontists, lead by Grandville’s Shannon Orthodontics, had a”food fight” with “us having a fleet of mini vans with all the donated food items.”
“It’s a joy,” Echavarria said of all the local support the pantry has received.
