Weingartz Set to Match Gleaners Donations and Double The Impact on Childhood Hunger
(Detroit, MI – September 8, 2016)… Beginning Tuesday, September 13, 2016 through Tuesday, October 11, 2016, Weingartz is partnering with Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan (Gleaners) for the 7th Annual Mow Down Hunger campaign. Weingartz, Michigan’s family-owned and locally operated provider of outdoor power equipment, will match every donation with a goal of providing one million meals. Last year Mow Down Hunger helped Gleaners provide over 1.9 million nutritious meals to Michigan children.
Nearly 300,000 local children rely on free or reduced-fee meals during the school year and often miss meals over the weekend. Mow Down Hunger directly supports programs specifically aimed at alleviating this problem:
School Food Mobiles distribute frozen meat, fresh produce and other nutritious food to 75-100 households at their children’s schools. Gleaners anticipates providing 60 monthly distributions of 30-35 pounds each, serving 8,000 families.
The BackPack program is a partnership with local schools to deliver backpacks on Fridays filled with nutritious food to children who rely on free or reduced-fee meals at school during the week. Each is filled with shelf stable milk, canned protein, canned fruit, canned vegetables, whole grain cereal or crackers.
BackPacks are filled by school children who volunteer for Gleaners’ Kids Helping Kids® program, educating them about childhood hunger and nutrition.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with great organizations like Gleaners in our effort to Mow Down Hunger again this year. As we enter the seventh year of the program, we continue to be humbled by the generous support of the community,” said President Dan Weingartz. “We are blessed to be the matching sponsor again and together, look forward to providing another one million meals for children in need.”
“I am truly grateful for the Weingartz family’s longstanding commitment to solving child hunger in southeast Michigan,” said Gleaners President Gerry Brisson. “With their support, and the tremendous response that their generosity inspires from the community, Gleaners is able to nourish thousands of hungry children every month. Together we are giving these kids the nutritious food they need to succeed in school and in life, and improving the health of their families and neighborhoods.”
All Weingartz locations are accepting monetary and nonperishable food donations through October 11, 2016. Visit http://www.weingartz.com/locations to view store hours and locations.
Donations can be made:
Online: Visit www.MowDownHunger.com
Call: 866-GLEANER (453-2637)
Mail: Make check payable to: Gleaners Community Food Bank (P.O. Box 44050, Detroit, MI 48244-0050) Please include Mow Down Hunger on memo line of check to ensure matching contribution.
About Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan
Everyone wins when hunger is solved. For nearly 40 years, Gleaners Community Food Bank has been “feeding hungry people and nourishing our communities.” Headquartered in Detroit, Gleaners operates five distribution centers in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties and provides food to 535 partner soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and other agencies throughout southeastern Michigan. Gleaners collects 34.5 million pounds of food a year and distributes 79,000 meals each day including providing nourishing food and nutrition education to 84,700 children a year. Every dollar donated provides three meals and 93 cents of every donated dollar goes to food and food programs. Learn more at www.gcfb.org.
About Weingartz
Family-owned and operated since 1945, Weingartz continues to serve as an industry leader in outdoor power equipment sales, service, and expert advice. A long-time advocate of commercial and residential buyers, Weingartz carries top-name equipment and replacement parts at each of its five Michigan locations and online at www.weingartz.com. Media Only: For more information or to schedule an interview with a representative of Gleaners or Weingartz, contact C&B Scene at 248.336.8360 or via email: scene@candbscene.com.