Patch Holiday Food Drive In Oakland County: Feeding America

Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, predicted this would happen as millions of Americans lost their jobs, their paychecks and even their businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic: Hunger is an urgent problem for about 180,000 people in Oakland County.

You can help. Patch and Feeding America teamed last summer to address the growing hunger crisis in America, connecting readers with the organization’s 200 member food banks that serve 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, and providing an easy way to donate money to help their neighbors.

Now through Dec. 31, we’re encouraging readers to make a tax-deductible contribution to Feeding America in the Patch Holiday Food Drive. Every $1 given to the organization buys 10 meals.

Local resources include:

• Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan
• Open Hands Food Pantry
• Nourishing Gardens Food Bank

Feeding America predicted last summer that 50 million people, including 17 million children, could face hunger by year’s end because of the pandemic. Feeding America projects the food insecurity rate in Oakland County will rise to 15.1 percent in 2020, up from 10.1 percent in 2018.

Feeding America says that 80 percent of its food banks — or 4 in 5 — are serving more people than they were at the same time last year. With the pandemic worsening during the holiday season, many people who never before worried about how they’d pay for a holiday meal are turning to food banks for the first time.

Stacy Averill, the vice president of community giving for Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan, which has locations in Wayne and Oakland counties, said the food bank has been hearing from more struggling families than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many of them are people who have never needed help before, she said.

“And now that we’re in the holiday season and winter is here, expenses are going up for families in our neighborhoods, making the juggle of resources even harder," Averill said. "But we know the generosity of our community is strong, and we rely on that donor support to distribute more food than we ever have in Gleaners’ history to continue to be a lifeline for our hungry neighbors.”

From the beginning of the pandemic in March, Feeding America distributed 4.2 million meals — enough to provide every U.S. resident with breakfast, lunch and dinner for just over four days.

In the first four months of the pandemic, 4 in 10 people were first-time visitors to food banks, according to Feeding America.

How To Support The Patch Holiday Food Drive

Patch has teamed with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.