Madison Heights Food Pantry seeks donations, volunteers

MADISON HEIGHTS — Organizers with the Madison Heights Food Pantry say that donations have been decreasing while recipients have been increasing, putting the group in a difficult situation where if the trend holds, they will be forced to reduce aid.

“There are so many families living paycheck to paycheck, and then when something goes wrong in their lives, they’re on the brink of being homeless,” said Kathy Trastevere, a retiree who volunteers with the pantry. “We want to make sure we get them through those hard times.”

The pantry originally opened in the spring of 2020 as a direct response to the COVID pandemic and business shutdown. It currently operates out of borrowed space at Central Church, located at 1529 12 Mile Road in Madison Heights.

The pantry usually distributes boxes of food on the first and third Saturdays of each month, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Distribution is done curbside. Most recipients stay in their cars while volunteers load up their vehicles, many lined up early for a wait that can take one or two hours. Others walk in with carts, where the staff tries to accommodate them.

The remaining dates for 2024 are Nov. 9, Nov. 23, Dec. 7 and Dec. 21. Cars enter the lot on the west side of the church.

The distributions this year have averaged about 130 families.

There are currently no eligibility requirements. Those seeking donations simply tell the pantry volunteers that they are in need, providing their name, telephone number and number of family members.

Each box contains a variety of food including cereal, bread, beans, a limited amount of fresh fruits and vegetables, packaged or canned meat, and dessert. The pantry also sometimes includes recipes for nutritious meals. If someone needs pet food, the pantry will try to include that as well.

But what the pantry can provide depends on the generosity of the community. According to the pantry’s operations supervisor, Kathy Anderson, in an email, the pantry once offered cleaning products and hygiene items, including feminine products, during the first distribution of each month, but those are no longer available. However, the pantry does still manage to provide small amounts of baby diapers and wipes, as well as most sizes of adult diapers.

“We have been proud to serve this community, and we hope to continue. But we do need more monetary and food donations from those willing to give,” Anderson said.

She noted that donations of boxed and canned food are always welcome, if they’re unexpired. The pantry always checks the dates on each item.

“I know it seems like a small point, but we tend to get a lot of expired food donated. Not to be too blunt, but we end up disposing of that bad food people have brought us,” Trastevere said. “So we really appreciate people going to the store and actually buying new food that we can distribute.”

Some desired goods include canned diced tomatoes, cooking oil, tuna fish, cereal, cake mixes, soups and boxed side dishes.

The pantry also needs shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletry items; feminine products such as maxi pads and tampons; paper products such as toilet paper and paper towels; and cleaning products such as bleach, dish soap, dishwasher pods and laundry pods.

Donations of pet food are also appreciated. The pantry recently received some from the Michigan Humane Society, but more is always needed.

Nonperishable and unexpired items can be placed at several drop-off sites in Madison Heights, including a bin at the top of the east entrance ramp at Central Church; inside the building at Pharmacy Shop, 28411 Dequindre Road; at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 1434 E. 13 Mile Road; and in the south entrance vestibule at City Hall, 300 W. 13 Mile Road, during business hours.

Monetary donations can be mailed to Madison Heights Food Pantry, P.O. Box 71202, Madison Heights, MI 48071.

One recommended way to donate is to buy “Simply Give” cards at the Meijer store at 1005 E. 13 Mile Road in Madison Heights. Each card is a $10 donation to the pantry, which Meijer matches. The pantry then receives gift cards to buy food for distribution.

The group also maintains an Amazon wish list that can be found at amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1GH4V6MTKDOIZ.

The pantry can also always use more helping hands for the hectic distribution days, as well as the Fridays before and the Tuesdays after. Volunteers package items, store them and retrieve them, direct traffic and more.

To see how you can help, email hello@madisonheightsfoodpantry.org.

Trastevere said she has seen many single-parent families barely making ends meet, individuals struggling with health conditions or unexpected injuries, or elderly residents living on a fixed income. The pantry has also assisted Ukrainian refugee families with young children, who are temporarily living in the U.S. due to the war in Ukraine.

She said the pantry has seen about a 20% increase in demand in recent years, due to factors ranging from the economy to increased awareness of the pantry itself. She said volunteering there is a great way to make a difference.

“It’s a labor of love,” Trastevere said of the operation. “We do the very best we can to provide food and dignity to those receiving it, and we wish we could do even more. But we can only do so much with what we have.”