Forgotten Harvest expanding with grant
Funds to pay for 10 jobs, infrastructure upgrade
Forgotten Harvest will be using a state transportation grant to create jobs and help expand its operations in Oak Park.
On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that a $91,246 Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Transportation Economic Development Fund grant will support the creation of 10 jobs and help with infrastructure improvements near the new 78,000-square-foot facility that will serve as the organization’s new headquarters. The new building is needed to “meet the critical needs and scale to the level of service metro Detroit requires,” according to the organization’s website.
The infrastructure improvements include widening the intersection of Hubbell Avenue with Eight Mile Road and associated curb, gutter, and drainage improvements. The total project cost is $132,057 with Forgotten
Harvest providing $40,811 to help fund the roadway improvements. The grant award has not been awarded yet, according to organization officials.
“Every Michigander deserves to drive on our roads safely, without blowing a tire or cracking a windshield. This partnership between the state, Forgotten Harvest, and the City of Oak Park moves us toward that goal while creating good jobs for Michigan workers,” said Whitmer.
For 30 years, Forgotten Harvest, a nonprofit organization, has been distributing repurposed food from 800 businesses to southeast Michigan residents who are facing food insecurity issues. The food is redistributed free-of-charge through the work of approximately 250 partner agencies.
Between 2019-2020, the organization helped re-distribute 45 million pounds of food.
That number is estimated to increase to 68.9 million pounds by 2028.
Forgotten Harvest CEO Kirk Mayes said the organization is honored to work with MDOT and the City of Oak Park to help obtain funding for this project.
“(This project) will allow Forgotten Harvest to have improved access to its new campus,” he said. “As a nonprofit organization providing healthy food for people facing need, we have designed the new campus to ensure an equitable quantity and nutritional mix of fresh, healthy food for each partner agency and the people we serve, and to expand the quantities of nutritious fresh food that we rescue and distribute.”
According to the organization’s website, this new headquarters will enable it to: provide a healthier, more nutritious mix of food for food-insecure families and seniors; increase distribution to underserved communities; improve service, quality, and reliability to partner agencies; provide a more equitable distribution to food-insecure residents; enhance the volunteer experience and make more efficient use of volunteer support; and unify staff under one roof.