(CBS-DETROIT) — Nonprofit organization Lighthouse is putting together thousands of holiday meal kits with help from the Gleaners Community Food Bank in Pontiac.
Thousands of pounds of food will be distributed to anyone who needs it, no questions asked.
The goal is to help build communities.
Angela Gill, the food programs manager at Lighthouse, said volunteers will be handing out food meal parcels throughout the day.
“I think it’s really important that people get fed,” Gill said. “Hunger isn’t just happening in low-income households. It’s something that a lot of people are experiencing, and I think more people are feeling food insecure than we’ve ever had in the past.”
Meal kits are filled with filling, gravy, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, dressing, fruit, vegetables, bread, produce and something sweet for dessert.
“Customers have tears of joy because someone cared enough about them to make sure they had Thanksgiving for their families, and that they had those traditional meals available to them,” Gill said.
More than 2,000 families will get more than just food this holiday season with the help of Lighthouse and Gleaners Community Food Bank.
Corporate and individual donors have contributed to community-wide food drives.
These families are provided with comfort, care and kindness and Lighthouse makes all of its customers feel loved when they drop off the Thanksgiving meal kits.
“It’s someone who cared enough to bring the food to them,” Gill said. “It shows people that we care, and we want to see people’s needs being met. Sometimes this is the only contact a person has with someone outside their own household. I think it has helped with the loneliness and isolation that everyone has been experiencing over the last few years.”