LINGENFELTER CARS AND COFFEE SERIES MAKES LARGE DONATION TO GLEANERS

During the first ever Lingenfelter Cars & Coffee Series, car enthusiasts came each Saturday to show off their cars and support Gleaners Community Food Bank. Over $6,000 and 612 pounds of food was donated during the weekly events at Lingenfelter North Engine Build Facility in Wixom. The donation will allow Gleaners to serve 18,704 meals to those in need in Livingston County and the tri-county area.

From May 3 to September 20, the public was invited to stop by with their cars, learn about the latest and greatest in performance automobiles from Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, and view other special cars from car enthusiasts. Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake Shop donated coffee and pastries each week for guests to enjoy. Although there was no fee to participate in the weekly events, guests were encouraged to make monetary donations or bring nonperishable food items to be donated to Gleaners Community Food Bank – and they did! The morning events drew an average of 200 visitors per week.

Why Gleaners?

· Gleaners Community Food Bank provides nearly 100,000 meals every day, reaching hungry neighbors throughout southeast Michigan.

· Gleaners partners with local schools to reach hungry kids with the healthy foods they need to learn, grown and thrive.

· One in four Michigan children struggles with hunger.

o Child hunger is an urgent problem, but it’s also a problem that can be solved by coming together as a community.

o For every dollar donated, Gleaners provides three meals for a hungry neighbor/child.

· Gleaners helps struggling families stabilize – not only by providing emergency food, but also through outreach programs that show families how to better provide for themselves.

· In southeast Michigan, 39% of those who receive emergency food are children under 18.
11% are children 5 and under.

· More than 308,000 children in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe and Livingston counties receive free or reduced-fee meals in school.

· One in four children in Michigan lives in a household receiving food stamps.

· 24% of children who live in Michigan live in poverty.