(WXYZ) — COVID-19 is putting a strain on a number of charitable organizations throughout Michigan as they try to keep hard-hit communities fed.
One of the organizations in our area that is trying to stay ahead of the demand is Forgotten Harvest. The nonprofit works to fight hunger and food insecurity in metro Detroit.
They're particularly hard hit because they rely on restaurants as one of their sources for donations, and those restaurants have been slammed by COVID-19.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen over 700,000 people and just since July, we’re averaging about a million pounds of food a week going out to the community. The need has been tremendous and it’s only been increasing unfortunately,” said Kirk Mayes, CEO of Forgotten Harvest.
Mayes said he is very thankful for the partners who continue to hold them up.
“We partner with so many grocery stores in the area . . . partners like Kroger are critical in this time -- especially when we're trying to figure out how to continue to keep our doors open and make sure we still have the food to keep the trucks running,” he said.
The organization was recently able to raise $56,000 through its latest fundraising event, the virtual Women’s Harvest Happy Hour, which was hosted by WXYZ's Glenda Lewis.
Mayes said while federal assistance has also helped considerably, he does anticipate that it will soon come to an end.
“We’ll take it one day at a time," said Mayes.
Mayes joined Glenda for our UpFront segment to talk about the organization's efforts during these difficult times. Watch the full interview in the video player above.
If you'd like to help support Forgotten Harvest, you can make a donation here.
