GLEANERS COMMUNITY FOOD BANK

Cooking matters (cm) and food smarts (fs) are both national nutrition education programs that teach low-income families (both adults and children) how to prepare healthy meals economically and make healthier food choices. Fs is unique in that it brings a trauma-informed and more reflection approach to the educational content. Both are led by employee and volunteer chefs and nutritionists. In fy2024, nearly 1,300 people graduated from the program. Cm and fs are both still offered virtually and in-person, however the majority of classes take place in-person.

Our volunteer program creates experiences for people to engage in hunger-relief work. From packing food for community mobile, school mobile, or senior food distributions to working the front lines directly serving consumers at our shared harvest pantry in howell or fresh market pantry mobiles distributions in southwest detroit, volunteers play a critical role in packing and distributing food to our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Over 25,000 volunteer shifts were completed in fy2024 comprising over 54,000 service hours, representing the equivalent of 26 full-time workers.