For the past 13 years the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Professional Nurse Council at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) has partnered with Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan to lead a community effort to provide children with a consistent daily meal over summer recess.
Our cereal drive began in June, 2010, collecting 160,757 servings of cereal. We immediately recognized the positive impact this project had on our community and eagerly set a goal to make this an annual event! Over the past thirteen years we are collected 11,814,764 servings of cereal for the children of southeast Michigan!
Now more than ever, kids in Southeast Michigan need access to healthy breakfast options throughout the summer. Over the last eleven years, together, we have raised more than 11 million servings of cereal.
The 13th Annual Cereal Drive will kick off June 2 and runs through June 9. All virtual donations will go to Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan to support the community wherever the need is greatest this year. To donate, click here.
Child Hunger In Our Community
Feeding America’s 2022 Map the Meal Gap estimated that 1 in 5 children in southeast Michigan were food insecure.
It is estimated that in 2020, 594,890 people in southeast Michigan experienced food insecurity.
In southeast Michigan, more than 305,000 children receive free or reduced-price meals in school. When school recesses for the summer, these children are vulnerable to undernourishment and hunger.
Why cereal? Cereal is an important food item for our food distributions. Cereal is an expensive item for Gleaners to purchase for distribution, yet it is also one of the items in highest demand. Cereal is a nutritious, vitamin-rich food that needs no preparation, is easily stored, and is well-liked by children.
Gleaners continues to respond to increased need through more than 600 community partners and dozens of community mobiles.
Gleaners distributed over 47 million pounds of food in its 2022 fiscal year.
Every dollar donated provides three meals and 94 cents of every donated dollar goes to food and food programs.
