By: Dean Vaglia | Macomb Chronicle | Published November 23, 2025
MACOMB TOWNSHIP — With the cost of food going up and inflation on people’s minds, students at one Chippewa Valley school will soon be able to get food they need regardless of the economic situation at home.
A food pantry is being established at Fox Elementary School. The idea to set up the pantry came from Denise Mansfield, owner of the Mansfield Insurance Group and a parent of former Fox Elementary students.
“She reached out to us and wanted to know if we had any need for students with this grant that they were able to apply for,” Fox Principal Frank Bellomo said. “(Mansfield) wanted to know if there was a need for a food pantry that we would keep here at school for students that had a need for snacks and different food items that they might not have the availability to bring from home. I had told her that we always have kids that might not have a snack or food throughout the day and that we could definitely find a use for that.”
The grant Mansfield was able to apply for and secure was a $2,000 grant from Michigan Farm Bureau Family of Companies, which Mansfield Insurance Group is an agency of.
“Michigan Farm Bureau has a huge food insecurity initiative as part of our mission as a single-state insurance operator, and we feel very strongly about food insecurity,” Mansfield said. “Being such a big agricultural insurance company — I think we insure 84% of the agriculture in the state — we have a strong tie to food.”
With Michigan Farm Bureau providing grants for starting community food banks and Mansfield maintaining a connection with Bellomo, the idea of using the insurer’s grant in the community fell into place. The need for such a resource became only clearer as the federal government shutdown, which was not a factor when Mansfield began pursuing the grant, saw federal employees furloughed and federal food assistance programs dry up.
“I firmly believe that at a basic level our bellies should be fed,” Mansfield said. “You can’t pour from an empty cup, and children are some of our most vulnerable, so I feel if I had the ability to help, I wanted to. I feel strongly as a commitment, as someone who protects families in the community through proper insurance, it just falls in line with my mission of making sure the community is strong. Whether it’s auto insurance, life insurance or filling the belly, I have a unique opportunity to go the extra mile.”
The $2,000 grant is intended to fund the food pantry for its first year. Along with buying the food that will be available in the pantry, the major capital expense that the grant will cover is buying a small refrigerator to expand its available items beyond shelf-stable packaged foods.
“One thing (Mansfield) and I had talked about was the idea to have some items that could possibly be refrigerated,” Bellomo said. “(We are) trying to find items for kids that are snacks but also that are healthy for them, too, during the day.”
It is early days for the Fox Elementary food pantry — as of mid-November there has yet to be a room in the school dedicated to the pantry — but school faculty already have an idea of what they need. Bellomo asks anyone in the community that is willing to donate food to bring healthy, prepackaged food to the Fox Elementary front office.
With $2,000 already in hand to get the food pantry going, Mansfield intends to apply for additional Michigan Farm Bureau grants to fund the pantry as long as possible.
“Of course, it will rely on the need and the support of the elementary to keep it stocked,” Mansfield said. “This will be our first go-around with them, and we’re excited to see how far we can take it. I don’t intend to stop being able to help support them, but this is our first-year initiative.”
Fox Elementary School is located at 17500 Millstone Drive in Macomb Township.