Detroit Pistons partner with Forgotten Harvest to serve over 500 Detroiters
The Detroit Pistons tip off “Season of Giving” festivities, presented by Meijer, with their seventh annual Thanksgiving Holiday Meal event on Tuesday, November 22 from 6-8 p.m. Over 500 Detroiters in need of assistance, identified by Forgotten Harvest partners and emergency food providers, will receive a hot Thanksgiving meal at Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. The event is closed to the general public.
The entire Detroit Pistons team and coaching staff will be on-hand to serve and greet those in attendance. Other activities will include player-fan interaction at basketball and fowling stations, video game stations, craft stations and photo booth stations.
“We’re pleased for the opportunity to partner with Forgotten Harvest and Meijer to feed over 500 Detroiters in need this Thanksgiving,” said Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Charlie Metzger. “Our move to Detroit has always been bigger than basketball and as such, we are equally focused on impacting the communities that support us –especially during the holiday season.”
The Thanksgiving event is a part of a broader partnership with Forgotten Harvest that expands the non-profit’s reach throughout the community and helps support over 644,000 people facing hunger in metro Detroit each year.
Financial commitments provided by Pistons owner Tom Gores, PS&E Vice Chairman Arn Tellem and the Detroit Pistons Foundation in 2016 have funded the cost, maintenance and operation of two brand new single-axel “Mobile Pantry” delivery trucks – part of a 35-truck fleet that travels over 500,000 miles a year rescuing food throughout Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Joining a rescue team of over 17,000 people throughout the region, Detroit Pistons employees also take part in “volunteer days” at Forgotten Harvest headquarters.
“This wonderful event is one of the highlights of our year,” said Forgotten Harvest CEO Kirk Mayes. “For so many of our families, it is an experience that will stand out in their holiday memories for a lifetime.”
Forgotten Harvest “rescued” over 45 million pounds of food in 2016 by collecting surplus prepared and perishable food from over 800 sources. The food is loaded onto mobile pantries that serve 69 partner sites in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, youth programs and community centers.
Over 644,000 people face hunger in metro Detroit, equating to one of every six individuals. Since 2000, Forgotten Harvest has rescued over 320 million pounds of food at 800 food donor locations. The food is donated free of charge by farms, manufacturers, dairies, food distributors, grocers and entertainment venues.