In the Spotlight - April 2012 - Intown Detroit Magazine

With hunger and homelessness on the rise in Detroit, one local organization and an area resident are fighting to raise awareness and bridge the food gap. 

One of the most efficient food rescue organizations in the United States, Forgotten Harvest was founded in 1990 to fight hunger and waste.  The organization is committed to rescuing fresh, healthy food and making it available to those in need.  The organization rescues food items from farms and retailers and deliver them to neighborhoods where they lack grocery stores or transportation.  Their primary focus is children and the elderly.  Pickup and delivery are both free of charge.

Russ Russell, Chief Development Officer of Forgotten Harvest since 2009, joined the team because wanted to work with an organization with the most impact.  According to a 2008 study by McKinsey, the food gap is expected to grow to 3 million meals annually by 2013.  Russell and the rest of the Forgotten Harvest team are determined to grow their organization to help fill that need. 

“We know it’s not filling the entire gap, but we’re going to continue to fight until everyone that needs food gets it,” said Russell.

In the past three years, Forgotten Harvest has made significant strides towards that goal.  The organization has grown from delivering 9.5 million meals in 2009 to 42 millions meals today.  Russell credited the organization’s innovation as the key to its success.  Forgotten Harvest pioneered grocery rescue, where retailers allow food relief organizations to rescue food that was not able to be sold in stores.  This program started with Kroger and has now gone nationwide, with 90 percent of stores across the country in participation. 

Russell also attributes the increase to the hard work of the Forgotten Harvest team as well as their volunteers, who help repack food every day.  Volunteers come from many of the local churches as well as GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Kroger.  Since 2009, Forgotten Harvest’s number of annual volunteers has increased from 500 over 5,000.  Forgotten Harvest welcomes anyone aged 12 years or older who would like to volunteer.  For more information, contact Krista Poole, Volunteer Coordinator, at 248-967-1500 or Kpoole@forgottenharvest.org. 

“We could not do our work without the volunteers that we have,” said Russell.

In addition to volunteers, Forgotten Harvest is able to continue its mission with the help of donors.  Forgotten Harvest has increased its donors from 15,000 in 2009 to 80,000 annually today.  On April 27^th 2012, Forgotten Harvest will host its 20^th Annual Comedy Night at Orchestra Hall.  All proceeds from the event, which Russell estimates this year to be $350,000, will go towards food rescue.  Every dollar donated equals five more meals Forgotten Harvest is able to provide.  This year’s event will be hosted by Seth Meyers, head writer of Saturday Night Live and anchor of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.

“We are grateful to the people of metro Detroit that support us every day,” said Russell. “[With their support], we are able to keep our mission alive when the need is so great.”

Sharing Forgotten Harvest’s mission to combat hunger in Detroit is resident Jerrold Boykin.  Every Wednesday, Boykin goes to four different locations in the city and delivers approximately 300 meals.  He also passes out meals to a lot of people just walking around.  He buys bread, lunch meat, water, fruit, and other snacks from Kroger and a farmer’s market on Curtis and Wyoming, and he pays for everything entirely out of his pocket. 

The values of service and compassion for others were instilled in Boykin as a child growing up in Detroit.  His father first took him to deliver meals to the homeless when he was 14 years old.  At that young age, Boykin was inspired to help out in his community as an adult.  Now 36, Boykin has recruited a lot of his friends and family, including his 14-year-old son, who helps prepare sandwiches. 

Eight months ago, Boykin began his mission when he decided to reconnect with his faith.  He described his first time delivering meals as a real adjustment. “It was just so bad. I was not aware so many people in Detroit were homeless,” he said.

Boykin, a carpenter, plans to start a non-profit organization, which will include offering his carpentry services free of charge to those in the area in need.

“These are some really good guys.  They’re not on drugs or alcoholics,” Boykin added.  “They had bad things happen or tragedy tested their sanity, and they couldn’t hold on. Everything we have can be taken away so quickly.”

For more information about Forgotten Harvest and the problem of hunger and homelessness in Detroit, visit www.forgottenharvest.org.