Hunger knows no boundaries. There are people in the city and people in the country who are struggling to feed themselves and their families. Often, the food, the hungry and the food bank are separated by miles. Enter the Ford Mobile Food Pantries and a growing fleet of Ford Transit Connect vans.
The Suburban Collection dealerships in Metro Detroit are donating two specially equipped vehicles that will be used along with seven others to collect and distribute food in southeast Michigan.
"The Suburban Collection is dedicated to eliminating hunger and today we're taking the first steps to do that," said David Fischer, chairman and CEO, The Suburban Collection. "Ford in its generosity has shown us how we can take this van, equip it specifically for carrying food and bring food to the needy."
The specially equipped Ford Transit Vans will service Oakland and Macomb counties through Suburban Ford of Waterford and Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights. The two new vans will be used in partnership with Gleaners Community Food Bank and United Way of Southeastern Michigan, which estimates that 700,000 people in the region don't know where their next meal is coming from.
"The vans are the right vehicle at the right time," said Jerry Brisson, Gleaners Community Food Bank. "They are going to help us increase our food drive, help us decrease costs and get hundreds of thousands more meals out to the community."
Ford's Mobile Food Pantry initiative is one of many hunger relief efforts supported by the company, including Feeding America, ten years of Partnership for Hunger Relief with Newsman's Own, and the work of Ford employees and retirees through the Ford Volunteer Corps.
