As 2023 comes to an end, we look back with gratitude for every volunteer, donor, community organization, business and friend whose support helped power our work throughout the year. Gleaners could not do the work we do without the legions of supporters who sustain our efforts!
One partner deserves special recognition for their contributions, both recent and long-standing: Fox 2 Detroit.
Fox 2 Detroit has been our go-to media partner since 2007, helping us spread awareness about food insecurity in Southeast Michigan, pitching in to ensure the success of our Double Your Donation Days and even, this month, taking a volunteer shift in our warehouse!
On December 9, 2023, more than 20 members of the Fox 2 family came to Gleaners main warehouse and distribution center in Taylor to pack bags of food to be shared at community mobile distributions and fill orders for our School Food Mobiles. All in, they packed more than 21,000 pounds of food, or the equivalent of more than 17,000 meals!
Fox 2 maximized the impact of the visit by using their tremendous platform to broadcast live from our warehouse, sharing about Gleaners’ work, talking with our President and CEO Gerry Brisson, and encouraging the Fox 2 audience to dedicate their time and financial support to Gleaners! We can’t thank them enough for helping us bring our story to the greater community!
Later in the same week, Gleaners celebrated our December Double Your Donation Day, where another of our important partners, Kroger, matched all donations, dollar for dollar.
We were thrilled to welcome back our long-time Gleaners supporter and Double Your Donation Day on-air host Amy Andrews. She broadcasted live on Fox 2 from our Detroit headquarters throughout the day, as she has every Double Your Donation Day since 2015!
Each Double Your Donation Day, she arrives before the sun rises to help us raise money to continue our work. She interviews Gleaners’ staff and corporate and community partners, explaining the work we do to bring healthy food to every corner of our five-county service area and the programs we offer in addition to food, like nutrition education. She makes recipes with our Cooking Matters team and encourages viewers to keep the phones ringing for our volunteers working the phone bank. Amy is an integral part of our work at Gleaners, and her compassionate, thoughtful approach contributes to the success of every Double Your Donation Day.
To Amy and all of our friends at Fox 2 Detroit, thank you. You’re an invaluable part of our team, and we appreciate your long-term, passionate support of our work to solve hunger!