By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


The 19th annual Livingston County Association of Realtors Food & Fund Drive is scheduled for this Saturday, May 1st, for those in need of help to meet the food needs of their family. The event will take place at 19 real estate agencies across Livingston County with donations going to Gleaners Community Food Pantry, which will then distribute them to local pantries.

Event Chair Sherri Garron of the Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team stresses that 100% of the donations will stay in Livingston County to help local residents during this stressful time that has been caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “Overall,” Garron says, “the need has been greater (this year) because of COVID, and in 2020 the need and amount of distribution increased by about 30% in Livingston County.”

Last year, the event was virtual for the first time ever, and this year it will be mostly virtual again, due to the COVID pandemic, except that non-perishable food items and cash will be collected this year, unlike last year, when no food items could be donated due to COVID. Although the over 100 Association of Realtors member volunteers will not be in the stores, they will be at local real estate offices to accept monetary donations and non-perishable food items. While the food items are always welcome, Garron says they are able to get “more bang for the buck” with cash donations. According to the Gleaners website, a $1 donation is sufficient to provide an individual with three balanced meals.

Garron says they hope to collect plenty of non-perishable food items but have no specific goal in mind in terms of weight. Last year, $23,840 in cash contributions was amassed, and the last time food was collected, in 2019, some 1,552 pounds of food was donated along with $25,450 in cash.

The sponsors have already realized $10,000 in advance monetary donations and, according to Garron, hope to match that amount on the day of the event. Garron hopes that will be accomplished on collection day at the various collection sites and at a realtor event the following week. The Food & Fund Drive will take place between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and noon on Saturday, and non-perishable food and canned goods, along with cash and check donations made out to Gleaners, will be accepted at the local realtors' offices which comprise the collection sites. Donations will still be accepted after May 1st, and many realtors are having internal competitions to raise additional dollars.

The funds and food will be divided and distributed by Gleaners among a network of 10 partner agencies in the county including Bountiful Harvest, Sunrise Pantry, Farley Hill Pantry, the Family Impact Center, and at the Gleaners Community Shared Harvest Pantry, on Sterling Drive off Dorr Road, in Genoa Township.

Those who wish to donate virtually can do so at gleanersfooddrive.org/event/lcar/.