Van Buren Township has received a $5,000 grant from Enbridge, as part of the corporation emergency response fund.
Officials said the grant will ensure the supply and distribution of nutritional food to three local food banks; Belleville First United Methodist Church- Emergency Food Closet, Trinity Episcopal Church-Friday Fill-Up! and Van Buren Public School-Owen Community Closet and Food Pantry.
“I'm grateful we received another grant to feed our community. This time, I choose to divide the funds up to help the largest amount of people as soon as possible,” said township Trustee Reggie Miller May 27. “It's about partnering with our community organizations to help meet their demands while helping as many people as we can. I want to thank Candice Braddock from Enbridge for offering us this opportunity.”
Information about the Belleville First United Methodist Church-Emergency Food Closet is available at (734) 697-9288. The church is located at 417 Charles St., Belleville, and the website is bellevillefirstumc.org. The food closet is open from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Questions about the Owen School Community Closet and Food Pantry can be addressed by phoning (734) 697-8711. The school is located at 45201 Owen St. in Belleville and is open from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Trinity Episcopal Church-Friday Fill-Up, (734) 699-3361 is located at 11575 Belleville Road in Belleville and information is available by accessing www.trinitybell.org. The food bank is open from 6 until 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
“I want to thank Trustee Reggie Miller for all her hard work in securing another grant and the board for continuing to take care of our community,” commented township Supervisor Kevin McNamara.
Board members opted to donate the grant funds to the three local food banks in an effort to reach everyone in need, officials said.
“Through our research, we found Trinity's main clients include senior citizens and families; Owen's focus is on students who are still in school or of school-age and the Food Closet is mostly single families,” noted an official statement from the township.
“A thriving community provides opportunities to support and enrich the lives of its people. By collaborating with community leaders like Van Buren Township, we're proud to support this initiative and energy to champion community solutions in our key focus areas of safety, environment, and community,” said Mike Moeller, director of Great Lakes Region Enbridge.
