comes from private sources, including individual donors
Help us make an impact
After forty three years, your support is still vitally important. If you are interested in fighting hunger in our region, we invite you to explore the information below and reach out to us with questions about the best ways for you to help. On behalf of the 650,000 food-insecure citizens in our five-county service area, thank you for helping Gleaners continue to provide these critical services.
Call 313-923-3535 with any inquiries or about making a donation. You can also contact any one of the Gleaners’ staff in the Advancement Office directly.
Why give to Gleaners
Gleaners is the largest, most comprehensive service organization working to alleviate hunger in southeastern Michigan. Over the last four decades, Gleaners’ food distribution has grown from 537,462 pounds in 1977 to 45.8 million pounds in 2019. Headquartered in Detroit where our largest distribution facility is located, Gleaners also operates facilities throughout southeastern Michigan in Howell, Pontiac, Taylor and Warren. We are supported by a dedicated team of over 100 staff and more than 45,000 volunteers.
pounds of food distributed in 2019
Partnerships that provide impact
Gleaners works with 500 partners—schools, churches, community organizations, hospitals, and other non-profit agencies—to identify hungry individuals and families and get them the assistance they need. Our process is particularly efficient with Gleaners purchasing perishable food items in bulk and using existing distribution pipelines – service providers already working in the community. As a step beyond putting food into the hands of those who need it, Gleaners also teaches nutrition and cooking, raises awareness about hunger in the community, and promotes volunteerism and engagement with hunger issues in our region.
Creative solutions for ending hunger
In instances where serious gaps in service exists, Gleaners has stepped in to develop creative solutions. For example, Gleaners works with schools to distribute weekend backpacks filled with nutritious food for children who rely on free or reduced-fee school meals during the week. To help people with mobility issues our Mobile Pantries go directly into the community to serve senior citizens and those with physical disabilities. One of our newest projects, Making Investments in the Lives of Kids (M.I.L.K.), delivers fresh milk—the hardest item to get into the hands of low-income families—directly to homes and area agencies for pick up.