NMC students aim to fill local food pantries

TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College students are leading an effort to fill local food pantries before the holiday season. The business communications students are working with the Northwest Food Coalition (NWFC) for the fifth annual Food for Thought food drive October 18- November 18.

The NWFC identifies 22% percent of families in the five-county region as being food insecure, or lacking reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. The group serves more than 500,000 meals a year to address that need. The Food for Thought Food Drive is a semester long experiential learning project that collects donations on behalf of the coalition, and enhances students’ professional communication skills.

For the first time, students will also collect food for a new NMC Food Bank. NMC staff and students created the pantry after noting an increase in food insecurity among students. The Minus 5 Project identifies that in a class of 40 students, as many as 5 could be food insecure.

Community members can help by donating non-perishable food and personal hygiene items in Food for Thought collection barrels at the following NMC locations October 18- November 18:

Main Campus: Osterlin Library, West Hall and the Health and Science Building
Aero Park Campus: Parsons-Stulen Building
University Center Campus

Tom’s Food Markets will be accepting donations from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m., October 21- 22 at its East Bay, West Bay Interlochen and 14th Street locations. The public is invited to bring donations to the S.T.E.M. Exploration Day at NMC’s Parsons-Stulen Building 11 a.m.–3 p.m., November 18. The community can also make financial donations to support the pantries at any of the events or on the NMC Foundation website.

Anyone who donates at least 5 items or $5 will be entered into a raffle for prizes donated by local businesses.

Release date: October 17, 2017

For more information:

Kristy McDonald
NMC Instructor
kmcdonald@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1059

Hunter Krecow
Director of Marketing NMC’s Food for Thought
krecowh@mail.nmc.edu
(231) 620-3716

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