subject: Detroit Trucks Carrying Goods and Food Help 4,000 Detroit Families in Need [print this page] Detroit Trucks Carrying Goods and Food Help 4,000 Detroit Families in Need
DETROIT, M.I. Detroit Trucks roared into the lot of the Second Ebenezer Church at 14601 Dequindre St. loaded with food, personal care items and other essentials ready to assist 4,000 Detroit families on Wednesday (June 16, 2010).
According to a press release issued by Frito-Lay North America, 14 semi tractor-trailers were unloaded by approximately 300 Detroit Metro-Area-based PepsiCo employee volunteers, as well as players from the Detroit Lions. The Detroit trucks were filled with more than 14,000 boxes of food, essentials and personal care items; 4,000 bags of PepsiCo products; and 4,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables for distribution.
Local families were identified by Feed The Children partner agency Vanguard Community Development Corporation and selected based on their level of need.
In a quote made to the Detroit Free Press, Vanguard Executive Director Scott Alan Davis said, "It was a simple process for us, because we selected people who said they needed it." Mr. Davis also told the Detroit Free Press, "We don't judge them, because it's not our role, because we are here to serve them."
The Detroit event was part of a larger Feed The Children program called Americans Feeding Americans.
Spokesperson for Feed The Children Tony Sellars said in the release, "Our Americans Feeding Americans project is geared toward people who are still being affected by the economic downturn, including many who, until recently, considered themselves middle class. A lot of these people, for the first time in their lives, have not been able to provide for their families and this distribution will provide relief for them at a crucial time."
Detroit has been one of the most affected areas by the recession. In March of this year, unemployment figures for Detroit and Wayne County were more than 6 percent higher than the national average, 15.5 percent for Detroit and 16.4 percent in Wayne County, the release states.
The Detroit trucks represent the most recent and largest stop by the Feed the Children Americans Feeding Americans Caravan. The number of American families that have been helped by this campaign so far is more than 100,000 including those helped during the Detroit event. By the end of this year, another 100,000 families will have received assistance through this program.
Since 2007 the total amount of food and essentials provided by Feed The Children totals 5.6 million pounds distributed to more than 71,000 Michigan families.
Every family at the Detroit truck distribution event collected a voucher to receive the following items: a 25-pound box of food; 10-pound box of essentials; box of Avon products; fresh fruit and vegetables; bag of PepsiCo products, including brands from Frito-Lay, Quaker, Tropicana and Pepsi.
"Giving back to the communities where we live, work and serve is a core value at PepsiCo, and for the local team based here there is no better place to serve than Detroit," said Fred Gongola, Motown metro market director, Frito-Lay North America.
MI Auto Times loves to hear good news about people or companies helping our local community and let our readers know. To read more news about communities in action, visit http://miautotimes.com/ or submit your own community's news by e-mailing your story to news@miautotimes.com
For more information about the Vanguard Community Development Corporation, visit www.vanguardcdc.org, or to see how many families have been helped by this campaign visit www.AmericansFeedingAmericans.org
[Source: Frito-Lay North America, Detroit Free Press]
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