TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – September 18, 2012 – The Fresh Food Partnership announced today over $19,000 in cash donations from the Grand Traverse and Leelanau County chapter of 100 Women Who Care, boosting efforts to fight hunger and support local agriculture in northwest Michigan.
The Fresh Food Partnership is a coalition of nonprofit organizations and volunteers with a two-fold mission: to provide locally grown fresh food to people in need, and to support local agriculture. For each of the past nine years, the Fresh Food Partnership has purchased fruits, vegetables and other produce from area farmers at fair market value and delivered this healthful food to pantries, shelters and community meals programs. Last year alone, the FFP and its volunteers distributed nearly 70,000 pounds of fresh food to people in need while reinvesting more than $52,000 back into the local agricultural economy.
The Grand Traverse and Leelanau County chapter of 100 Women Who Care launched in December of 2011, joining a national philanthropic movement of women who pool individual resources in support of their community. One hundred (or more) women commit to attend four one-hour meetings a year, pledging $100 each per meeting. Three of the women are selected by random drawing at each meeting to give a five-minute explanation of a local charity of their choice. The group then votes on the choices, and the charity with the most votes receives the donations from that meeting.
The Fresh Food Partnership was nominated at the group’s June meeting by Judy Reinhardt, co-owner of Sweeter Song Farm in Cedar and an active participant in the Fresh Food Partnership. The group awarded a total of 196 checks, or $19,600. The funding will enable the Fresh Food Partnership to purchase approximately 24,500 pounds of fresh, nutritious, locally grown food for families in need.
Reinhardt and Fresh Food Partnership Program Coordinator Karen Fulkerson will give a presentation and thanks at the next meeting of the 100 Women Who Care on Thursday, September 27, 5:30 p.m. at the Traverse City Golf and Country Club. For more information on the 100 Women Who Care, please email
100WWCTC@gmail.com.
For more information on the Fresh Food Partnership, including volunteer opportunities and ways to support its mission, visit
www.freshfoodpartnership.org.
About the Fresh Food Partnership
Founded in 2003, the Fresh Food Partnership (FFP) is a coalition of nonprofit organizations and volunteers in northwest lower Michigan with a two-fold mission: to provide access to locally grown, healthy and fresh food to people in need through area food pantries, shelters and community meal programs; and to support local agriculture by purchasing that fresh food from area farms at fair market prices. This past year, the FFP distributed nearly 70,000 pounds of fresh food to people in need while reinvesting more than $52,000 back into the local agricultural economy.
Partners in the FFP include the Land Information Access Association (LIAA), the Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency, Michigan State University Extension, the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, and the United Way of Northwest Michigan.
To learn more about the Fresh Food Partnership and to support its mission, please visit
www.freshfoodpartnership.org.
