CARES in Farmington Hills | caresfh.org

September-October, 2023 |Sept

CARES Food Pantry Serving Farmington-Farmington Hills-Livonia-Northville-Novi-Redford Twp-Southfield-West Bloomfield

CALL: 248-474-8231 for information.

Annual Duck Race & Family Fun Day a Huge Success

The weather was perfect. The turnout was amazing. The mood was playful. It all came together at the CARES Duck Race and Family Fun Day on August 2 at Shiawassee Park. Some 57 sponsors contributed financial support, prizes and on-site volunteers to make the family-friendly fund-raiser a "quacking" success.

Children enjoyed bounce houses and slides, face painting and a kids' concert. Food trucks were on hand. The highlight of the afternoon was the duck race in which 7,310 rubber ducks, each representing a potential prize winner, were dropped into the Shiawassee River and bobbed to the finish line. Prizes valued at $500 or more were awarded to the 12 fastest finishers. The first place winner of $100 of groceries from Busch's Market every week for a year went to Kevin Skinner of Farmington Hills. Nissan was the winner of a separate duck decoy race in which 45 decoys representing corporate sponsors raced through the river.

"We are so grateful to our volunteers and corporate sponsors for their support of this event," Todd Lipa said. "All of the proceeds from the Duck Race go to support the Food Pantry. Thanks to all who participated, we raised enough money to pay expenses and stock the food pantry for four to five months." 

DUCK RACE 1st Prize...$5200 in groceries from Busch's!

Kevin Skinner, left, was the lucky 1st prize winner of $100 per week in groceries from Busch's Markets, a proud Duck Race Sponsor.

Kevin says "To have won this incredible prize is AMAZING! We used to be guests at CARES and then got back on our feet a little bit. We are still making ends meet from month-to-month and this gift of groceries is amazing.

Thanks from Kevin, Kim and Tima!"

A special thanks to our Golden Duck sponsors, who each contributed $10,000 and provided volunteer help on race day:

Livonia, Another Great Community Partner

Livonia government officials recently visited the CARES Food Pantry to understand how CARES is serving Livonia residents. As a result, Livonia Mayor, Maureen Brosnan, wants everyone to know why CARES in Farmington Hills is so important to Livonians. "Food insecurity doesn't stop at city borders," she says. "245 Livonia residents are receiving monthly support from CARES Food Pantry. We need to lock arms with anyone who is helping address the issue. This is an important partnership for us. Why should we spend money to duplicate a service that is already helping to meet a critical need in such an effective way? Together we can achieve more!

Mayor Brosnan is shown with the City of Livonia's duck entry in the Annual Farmington Duck Race.

CARES continues St. Al's tradition of Servant Leadership...

Mark Zeigler, President and General Manager of Heeney-Sundquist Funeral Home, Founding Member of CARES and member of the Board of Trustees, is so proud of the work CARES does for residents of all 8 communities it serves.

"Father Jim Wright had a vision that St. Al's should be a family in service to each other and to all those who needed a hand up," he says. "CARES is continuing in that tradition and expanding the service even further."

Zeigler is inspired by everything he sees at CARES--the commitment and sense of community among volunteers; the respect shown to patrons of the Food Pantry and the fun-filled activities like the annual Farmington Duck Race that brought so many different people from the greater Farmington area together for fun and fellowship.

"It's a privilege to be a part of this organization, to see how the mission of St. Al's has grown. The repurposing of the building into such a modern facility that serves 600 families each month is amazing."

We're reminded though, that CARES has to continually raise funds to keep going. As business leaders in this community, as people who are blessed with much, CARES offers so many opportunities to help others. The Grateful Plate Full Campaign is coming up soon. Coming into the season of 'thanks-giving' is a wonderful time for us to be introspective about all we have and how we can share with others. Every donation from $10 to $10,000 makes a difference!"

--Mark Ziegler

Exciting Changes are Coming to CARES Grounds...

Thanks to our Great Business Partners!

Get ready to see some heavy equipment on CARES property in September and October!

We're excited to announce that the Reflection Garden, so long a dream of ours, will soon become a reality. Donations of materials from Site One and ground work from Wasmer Brothers Landscaping will start the process of beautification and building our garden.

Also our baseball field will be upgraded and ready for play thanks to a generous donation from Weingartz and their grounds crew, with help from Ventrac.

We are so grateful for these important community partnerships. Without the generosity of these businesses the upgrades to our property and neighborhood could never happen. Our CARES neighborhood residents and the communities we serve will all benefit from the improvements.

The annual Grateful Plate Full Campaign is your opportunity to help insure that CARES is able to continue providing food to those in our cities who are in need.

Some suggestions for donations are shown above. Whatever your donation amount, EVERY dollar helps to feed hungry families and individuals in our communities. Each month over 600 households in Farmington, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Northville, Novi, Redford, Southfield and West Bloomfield are able to receive food from the CARES Food Pantry because of donations from businesses and people like you who care.

Please make your generous donation today at www.caresfh.org/donate OR send a check to CARES FH and mail to:

CARES of Farmington Hills

27835 Shiawassee

Farmington Hills, MI 48336.

SOS...Sharing our Season is back from Busch's!

Greater Farmington is blessed with a number of businesses who are committed to making our community a better place to live and work. None more so than Busch's Fresh Food Markets. "Giving back to our communities is part of our business model," says President Doug Busch.



One of the ways is Busch's Annual Sharing Our Season--SOS Campaign which helps raise thousands of dollars for the CARES Food Pantry. For 13 days, from November 13-26, Busch's Stores in Farmington Hills and Livonia will be collecting donations to help feed hungry families in our area.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN BE A PART of the SOS Campaign:

Shop Busch's in Farmington Hills and Livonia between Nov 13 and 26 to support CARES and the generous philanthropy of Busch's Fresh Food Market.

4 Ways to Help:

• Pick up a Gift Tag for a $5 produce donation or $10 meat donation and take it to any register

• Purchase a Ready-­To‐Go bag 
• Donate your bottle return slip

• Sign up to work a shift or two at either the Livonia or Farmington Hills food drive here! Just click on the appropriate link.

We have the best volunteers...

Volunteer, Lionel Hilton has future goals:

He wants to "do marketing for a large corporation, have an apartment of his own; a life partner and not much student debt--all in the next five years." And he's practicing his marketing skills at CARES by helping out with social media. Lionel created a fun video to advertise the recent annual Farmington Duck Race! He also helps at checkout in the Food Pantry.

Lionel, beginning his junior year in marketing at Western Michigan University, has been a CARES volunteer for the past two years. He also volunteers at Gleaners because he just likes to help others. "CARES is special though because it means I'm helping out in my own community."

We're really glad he's here and sharing his talents with our CARES Families.

Meet Zeke Ellis: One of our Youngest Volunteers

Thirteen-year-old Zeke Ellis is learning life lessons at CARES. He started volunteering in the stockroom this summer at the advice of his grandfather, Jerry Ellis, one of the co-founders of CARES and a former Farmington Hills mayor. Zeke recalls, “He told me that it would be good for me to see that not everyone has everything that I have. That some people need help even to get food,” Zeke says that he likes doing what he can to help.

Zeke labels food, stocks shelves and packs groceries for home deliveries. The Farmington Hills resident and Warner Middle School eighth grader believes that this experience and the lessons he’s learning will help when he enters the workforce someday.



We’re grateful to Zeke and all our CARES volunteers.

ATTENTION CARES GIVERS!

Donations of toilet paper, laundry detergent and personal hygiene items are always appreciated.

At this time we are not able to provide laundry detergent and toilet tissue as regular items for CARES patrons. We are a "Food Pantry" so we need to concentrate on providing food items for our guests. BUT, you can imagine how difficult it is for families on food benefits when the rules don't allow purchase of personal hygiene items or paper goods.

So when you're shopping, if you happen to throw an extra package of toilet tissue (four roll packs) or laundry detergent (46 or 88 oz size or laundry sheets that won't clog the land fills) we will welcome your donation. And we know our guests will be grateful as well.

Your donations are ALWAYS needed and welcomed!

We are currently distributing over 30,000 lbs of food each month to more than 600 households. Become a CARES GIVER to help us keep up with the demand.

Visit www.caresfh.org/donate or click on the button below to make your donation today.

Save these dates:

October thru December: Grateful Plate Full Campaign sponsored by Busch's

Oct 19: Grateful Plateful Dinner at Hunt Club

Oct 29: Trunk or Treat at CARES

Nov 4: Holiday Art Show

Nov 13-26: SOS Food Drive at Busch's Fresh Food Markets in Farmington Hills and Livonia

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers. We are now accepting applications for anyone interested in working in the Food Pantry and on weekend and fundraising events.

If you are interested in working on any of these tasks please fill out a volunteer application at caresfh.org/volunteer

Your Medicare prescription coverage may be changing...

Find out more about changes to Medicare from Owen Ballow of United Healthcare. The Inflation Reduction Act may cause changes in some Medicare Prescription Plans. Get the latest information on October 18, at 4 pm in the CARES Gathering Room. Open to anyone. No advance sign up necessary. Owen will also offer individual reviews of current Medicare Plans and address special circumstances. Refreshments provided.

*Learn about the CARES Partnership with United Healthcare and the new opportunities it may offer CARES volunteers.



ATTENTION Shoppers: New CARES Market Hours

Open Mon and Fri from 10 am - 4 pm

Tues, Weds, Thurs from 10 am - 6 pm.

Market Manager, Sharon Brandal suggests shopping at CARES Market for ingredients for holiday dinners. Large orders for potatoes, baking mixes and other items must be placed by 10/31 to assure product availability. Check out the CARES Market today and receive 10% off your order. All profits go to support the CARES Food Pantry!

CARES...IT'S WHAT WE DO!

CARES in Farmington Hills | WWW.caresfh.org

Newsletter Volunteer Staff:

Cheryl Willette, Barbara Koch