DECEMBER 5, 2006

Harvest Gathering food donations top 34,000 pounds

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land today announced that this year's Harvest Gathering donations by Department of State employees and customers totaled 34,508 pounds of food, shattering last year's record by more than 10,000 pounds.

Collection boxes in Secretary of State branch offices and state office buildings yielded enough canned goods and other nonperishable items to top the 2005 contribution of 24,177 pounds.

"This year's totals are fantastic," Land said. "Our contribution, when added to the rest of the totals collected by state government, will certainly go a long way to helping those in need. More than one million Michigan residents use food bank resources each year, so I want to thank everyone who took the time to bring in a canned good or make a pledge. Your contributions will make a difference to someone facing hunger."

The department has been collecting food for Harvest Gathering in its branch offices since 1999. This year, the total from the 153 offices equaled 32,437 pounds of food. The top 10 offices are:

• Sparta in Kent County, with 8,259 pounds of food
• Ionia in Ionia County, with 4,324 pounds of food
• Alma in Gratiot County, with 3,005 pounds of food
• Montcalm County PLUS Office, with 1,506 pounds of food
• Chelsea in Washtenaw County, with 1,336 pounds of food
• Mason in Ingham County, with 1,129 pounds of food
• Baldwin in Lake County and Reed in Osceola County, which tied with 820 pounds of food
• Hastings in Barry County, with 802 pounds of food
• Monroe in Monroe County, with 525 pounds of food
• Clinton Township SUPER!Center in Macomb County, with 424 pounds of food

In addition to the branch office efforts, department employees in the Richard H. Austin Building and Secondary Complex in Lansing mounted spirited campaigns to beat last year's totals. When the last of the items was tallied, the two facilities had collected more than 2,000 pounds of food.

This year's Harvest Gathering goal was to reach 500,000 pounds of food and raise $350,000. With 332,169 pounds of food and $281,486 donated so far, the campaign is on target to meet its goal by year-end. Since Harvest Gathering began in 1991, a total of 7,135,538 pounds of food and $4,622,438 has been raised.

State government employees as well as a number of corporate and private agencies support Harvest Gathering. The campaign is designed to meet the emergency food needs of individuals and families. Donated items are distributed through the Food Bank Council of Michigan's member food banks and their more than 2,500 community agencies statewide, including soup kitchens, pantries and shelters. All the food and other products collected stay in the community, helping local residents challenged by rough times.

For more information about Harvest Gathering and the Food Bank Council of Michigan, visit www.fbcmich.org.

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