Juliana Ludema, communication specialist for Feeding America West Michigan, with host Ken Norris, on the set of WKTV Journal In Focus in January 2021. (WKTV)
During a recent visit to the studio of WKTV Journal In Focus, Feeding America West Michigan is looking back on 40 years of helping to feed those at risk of hunger after experiencing a 2020 that presented both challenges and opportunities.
Juliana Ludema, communication specialist for Feeding America West Michigan, on the set of WKTV Journal In Focus in January 2021. (WKTV)
The local non-profit will be honoring 40 people who have been part of this journey through its “40 Years 40 Faces” series. With us is Juliana Ludema, communication specialist from the organization, and we will talk with her about what food banks do, the history of Feeding America West Michigan, and find out about its efforts before, during and after the current pandemic time of extraordinary local need.
For more information about Feeding America West Michigan, visit feedwm.org.
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (For dates and times on Channel 26, see our Weekly On-air Schedule. For dates and times on Channel 99, visit here). All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
Feeding America West Michigan, along with its partners and supporters, have been fighting hunger alongside in West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula for 40 years. (FeedWM)
Feeding America West Michigan is celebrating its 40th year of fighting hunger alongside its partners and supporters in 2021. And, throughout the year, the local non-profit will be honoring 40 people who have been part of this journey through its “40 Years 40 Faces” series.
While the group announced its first honored person last week — the Rev. Donald Eddy, who in 1980 worked with Grant-area farmers to get unmarketable fresh vegetables into the hands of the needy and hungry — the local Feeding America is looking for the general public to submit stories and persons who have helped “feed America” locally.
“Countless people have played a role in our 40-year history,” Molly Kooi, Feeding America West Michigan’s communication manager, said to WKTV. “We want to honor 40 of them in our 40 Years 40 Faces series … (and the public can) nominate someone to be featured, or to share your own story.
To share a story or nominate someone, go to FeedWM.org/40-years and click on the share your story button, she said.
People, stories of people feeding people
Rev. Don Eddy (FeedWM)
The Rev. Eddy’s story is a prime example that small actions can make a difference. In early 1980, he saw a truckload of perfectly good carrots being composted on a farm in Grant, according to supplied material. As director of United Methodist Metropolitan Ministries, he knew many people who faced hunger, so he asked the farmers to stop dumping them and said he could ensure the carrots got to families who could really use them.
A year later, on April 23, 1981, the food bank that became Feeding America West Michigan (FeedWM) formed. That small beginning has culminated in the food bank’s current network that serves 40 counties across West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
As the year 2021 goes on, each 40 Years 40 Faces story will be shared on social media (@feedingwestmich) and on the food bank’s website (FeedWM.org/40-years).
The series will feature FeedWM staff — like its longest tenure executive director, John Arnold and current CEO, Kenneth Estelle, as well as board members, volunteers, farmers, donors and others who have been part of the food bank’s ongoing journey toward a hunger-free community. And there are opening for others.
Mobile Food Pantry boxes, undated. (FeedWM)
In addition to the story series, the food bank will release a historical timeline and photo album. The food bank welcomes the public to submit photos here to be included.
“We are excited to share about the food bank’s 40-year journey and honor some of the many people who have been a part of our story,” Estelle said in supplied material. “Our partners and supporters have made and continue to make our work possible.”
Serving local families in need since 1981, Feeding America West Michigan reclaims millions of meals’ worth of safe, surplus food from various sources, according to supplied material. With the help of countless volunteers, the food bank sorts, stores and distributes this food through a network of more than 900 partners to fill hundreds of thousands of neighbors’ plates instead of landfills.
For more information, visit FeedWM.org or call 616-784-3250.
