Amid a time of deep uncertainty and great need, The Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry in Brightmoor is celebrating a $145,000 investment from their new funding partner, Total Health Care Foundation. The grant provides the pantry with access to a nutritionist and will aid in their efforts to acquire healthy food directly from local grassroots farmers.
The Foundation is proud to partner with Brightmoor Connection, Gleaners Community Food Bank, Total Heath Care Foundation, and many others to combat food insecurity in the Brightmoor neighborhood through annual grants to the effort since 2009.
The pantry was founded through a collaborative effort seeking to improve the way food is distributed by designing a client-choice model. According to Rev. Roslyn Bourier, executive director of Brightmoor Connection, the Foundation’s support has been critical from the start. “For the past ten years the Fisher Foundation has faithfully shown up and assisted families wading through the uncertainty of having to live food insecure,” Rev. Bourier shared in an email interview.
At Brightmoor Connection, the pandemic has exasperated the community’s need.
“Last year, at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown, in one week’s time, we went from 9,000 pounds of food to 48,000 pounds of food. Families were unable, and still are, to go purchase two weeks of food in advance. The lines just never stopped. It was heart-wrenching. It was taxing, mentally and physically…” said Rev. Bourier.
The volunteer led, shopper-friendly atmosphere serves more than 1,700 families each year. The pantry offers fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and other nutritional products, with children’s winter coats, boots and holiday baskets also being distributed seasonally. Operations have been expanded to include a year-round clothing closet and assistance with water utility insecurity.
Added flexibility in the 2020 annual grant from the Foundation was greatly appreciated, according to Rev. Bouirer, as the community continues to grapple with the pandemic’s lingering effects. This long-term partnership, combined with new investments like those from Total Healthcare Foundation, will help ensure groups like Brightmoor Connection can continue to serve families in crisis and beyond.
