In our last blog post, we answered the question “where does the food come from?” In this post we answer another common question — where does the food go? 

When we started making meals in January, about 50 people from the community were already coming to Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church to pick up a box of food made available through the USDA Farmers to Families program. Some people picked up for themselves while others picked up for family members, neighbors, or friends who couldn’t make it there on their own. We offered a family-style meal to each person who came to pick up a box and heard a lot of stories. One person shared that she cares for her husband and that having a prepared meal gives her a break from having to do everything herself. Another told us that she is a recently single mom after losing her husband and the meals help her by covering one of her to-do’s. One daughter of a senior who gets out of bed on Fridays just to share the meal was thrilled that her mom has something to look forward to. 

Not surprisingly, we started to get more requests for meals. And thanks to the generous donations from donors and local foundations, we are now up to 175 family meals a week. Some of our original “eaters” are not in need of meals anymore, while other new faces have started to come. And through our partnerships with the wonderful nonprofits Motor City Mitten Mission, Everybody Eatz, Neighborhood Service Organization, and Eastside Community Network, we are able to share our meals with people who are unable to pick up directly due to health, transportation, or scheduling challenges. 

Each week, our chefs put a lot of love into the meals. What better way to show someone you care? Our eaters are thankful to have a prepared meal that tastes great made by people who want to feed bellies and spirits. And we are thankful to our host, Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, the volunteers, the donors, and the community for giving us this opportunity to serve.