MARQUETTE, MI-- Feeding America West Michigan is closing branch warehouses in Sault Ste. Marie and Ishpeming by the end of March.
CEO Ken Estelle says the food bank needs a new distribution model for residents in need, and the warehouses just aren’t big enough.
“We just did not have the capacity in those branches to be able to meet the need in the community,” he says. “And then over the past year we have been piloting a direct delivery process with some of the larger food pantries or meal programs.”
Estelle says taking mobile pantries directly to communities enabled Feeding America to distribute 23 percent more food in 2015. It’s transitioning completely to that model this year.
Feeding America West Michigan serves 40 counties, including the Western portion of the Lower Peninsula and the entire U.P.
