Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to tour the Food Gatherers distribution facility in northern Ann Arbor. I also spent some volunteer time in the warehouse to better learn how the operation works. Food Gatherers performs a daily miracle in distributing thousands of pounds of largely wholesome and healthy food to those in need in Washtenaw County. It is amazing to see firsthand the logistic juggernaut it requires to collect unused food from local restaurants, grocery stores, and generous donors. They then evaluate and repackage that food for later distribution to local soup kitchens, pantries, and nonprofit organizations in the county who offer food to their customers.
Food Gatherers takes on a monumental task, one that many of their partner organizations could not hope to fund or perform, and make life and operations easier for partners. Due to their size and renown, Food Gatherers can leverage better bulk prices and negotiate more comprehensive donation deals. The partner organizations can then focus on serving the food to their customers and attend to other problems they may have in life.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time, and I have a better appreciation off the effort necessary to pull off a miracle each and every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment