Gleaners volunteers and Kroger shoppers turned out in great numbers to help gather food for people in need. We are grateful to our community of volunteers who covered 2,200 volunteer shifts during the past month. Thank you to each and every volunteer who gave their time, greeted shoppers and received donations at 93 participating Kroger stores across southeast Michigan. We could not accomplish this work without their help and the tremendous support from our agency partners. Shoppers were also encouraged to purchase $5 Hearts to Homes boxes during the drives.
This year’s January Kroger Drives raised a total 246,549 pounds of food and more than $36,661 for people in need. That’s more than 314,000 meals!
Donated food will be distributed to Gleaners network of 519 agency partners across our service region. Food drives provide our partner agencies with a variety of food items that help feed neighbors in need. Every four pounds of donated food can feed someone for an entire day.
Our agency partner Liberty General Baptist Church helped support the drives for three weeks straight. More than 10 volunteers from their church helped greet customers at Oakland County Kroger stores and pick up donated food across the region. “This event is amazing,” said Pastor Eric Anglea. “It’s great to get out and see the people donating and offering support.” The January Kroger Food Drives will help General Baptist Church provide emergency food to struggling people throughout their community. The Church hosts a weekly food pantry and works with their neighbors at the Auburn Hills Fire Department to get food to people experiencing an emergency, such as the loss of a home. “It’s so helpful to have this food on hand right when our community needs it most,” said Anglea.
The Kroger January Food Drives and From Hearts to Homes program is part of Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan to end hunger in local communities the grocer serves and eliminate waste across the company by 2025. Gleaners is honored to partner with Kroger again this year. We hope you will join us next January!