Berkley

Local food pantry asks for community's help to raise $100K for needy families

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

BERKLEY — Yad Ezra, Michigan’s only kosher food pantry, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new fundraising effort to help low-income families throughout metro Detroit.

Now through the end of the year, the nonprofit organization will be raising money through its 20/20 Campaign, which is focused on ending hunger in Southeast Michigan. With the fundraiser, which began in August, Yad Ezra is seeking 250 donors in the community to contribute $20 dollars a month for 20 months, which would raise a total of $100,000. Each 20/20 donor will be providing entire meals to one person for five months.

According to Lea Luger, development director for Yad Ezra: “The need out there is really increasing — a lot more families are desperately in need of food right now. We have many clients who were formerly donors, but now their economic situation has changed, and they’re the ones receiving the donations. … We just want to make sure that no one who needs food is going without it.”

Luger said that in December 2007, Yad Ezra was serving about 1,100 southeastern Michigan families, but that number has jumped up to more than 1,600 since then. The organization currently provides food for about 5 percent of the region’s Jewish population.

Although the $400 commitment requested of every 20/20 donor is a sizeable one, Luger pointed out that because of federal and state tax rebates, most contributors will only be paying about $60 in actual cost.

Yad Ezra was founded in 1990 with the goal of providing kosher meals to impoverished Jewish families in metro Detroit. It is a supplemental food pantry that once a month supplies clients with nutritious food packages designed to last 10 to 14 days. Yad Ezra’s employees and volunteers distribute food to clients at its Berkley warehouse, and in addition, the organization works with about 20 local synagogues to make home deliveries to some clients.

Non-Jewish individuals can also receive food from Yad Ezra, but only on a one-time basis. According to Operations Director Elaine Ryke, this is another area where the organization has seen a notable increase in demand.

“We’re definitely getting a lot more one-time-only clients coming in here,” she said. “A lot of people are telling us that their unemployment (payments have) run out, and they have nowhere else to go.”

Ryke explained that Yad Ezra purchases much of its food wholesale in very large quantities, while the rest is acquired at bulk retailers, such as Costco, Sam’s Club and Save-A-Lot. The organization also receives some of its fresh produce from larger community food banks, such as Gleaners and Forgotten Harvest.

Yad Ezra has distributed more than 12 million pounds of kosher food in its 20 years of existence. But while the need from local families has risen substantially since the recession hit, Ryke was proud to report that the community has responded with enough support to fill the slack.

“Right now, we are able to keep up with the increase in demand,” she said. “We’ve found that some people are actually giving more now because they recognize that there’s a greater need out there.”

And as Luger pointed out, that is exactly why Yad Ezra is constantly soliciting more volunteers and pursuing new fundraisers like the 20/20 Campaign.

“We don’t get much money from grants or corporate sponsorship,” she said, “so most of our budget comes from our fundraising efforts. We’ve had quite a growth spurt because of the economic decline, and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. … It’s imperative that we continue to get strong support from the community. We have to keep raising funds so that people can keep putting food on the table.”

To donate to Yad Ezra’s 20/20 Campaign or find out more information, call (248) 548-3663 or go to www.yadezra.com. Yad Ezra is located at 2850 W. 11 Mile Road in Berkley.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.