Here is some more reporting about the food pantries in southeast Michigan and the new wave of clients they are seeing from families who formerly were getting by on their own. The following article is on page 3A of today’s print edition of The Monroe Evening News.

By Dean Cousino
dean@monroenews.com

FLAT ROCK, Mich. — The Helping Hands Ministry at Community Lutheran Church is providing food and staples to about 160 needy families a month, with more white-collar workers coming in for assistance.

Several new families are coming in each week for food as other clients are leaving or moving out of state, said Judith Watkins, coordinator of the ministry. The food closet is housed at the church, 23984 Gibraltar Rd., and is open from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday.

“It’s a balancing act,” Mrs. Watkins told the Flat Rock Community Service Organization (CSO) Thursday. “We’re holding our own. We had to purchase about $250 worth of food for the first time this year because of what we had (left over) from Christmas.”

She has seen a recent rise in the number of men and women coming to the depot who had been earning good wages until they were laid off from their jobs.

Usually, the ministry has to buy more food in January when donations from the holidays run out, she said.

“We’ve been blessed by the donations we get” from the community, she told about a dozen members of the CSO. “We have about seven or eight churches donating, and every school in the area has helped us with a food drive. That really makes a difference.”

About 1,800 cans of soup were recently donated by members of Faith Lutheran Church from a Souper Bowl fundraiser held by the church the weekend of the Super Bowl.

The ministry has a registry of about 500 families or individuals who have come to the food closet, but not all of them come each week, she said.

The ministry also provides free clothing and some furniture to the families. She said three people this week received notices that their electricity would be turned off. Sometimes up to a dozen places a month will get shut-off notices from utility companies.

Mrs. Watkins credits the CSO for generating more support and food for the ministry. Since it formed six years ago, the CSO has helped spread the news about food shortages at the depot through its network of monthly meetings and communications. …

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