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KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Trader Joe's store in Kalamazoo donated thousands of pounds of food to a local shelter after their refrigeration system went down Wednesday morning.
People who work at Kalamazoo Gospel Mission say the 35,000 pounds of food from the store is the largest donation they've ever seen. The ministry says it will make a huge difference, not only with more meals, but uplifting the spirits of the people they serve.
"They called us and we were able to mobilize a team within an hour that consisted of staff and volunteers," said Greg Weaver, Director of Food Service at the mission.
Trader Joe's Store Captain Daniel Sorscher says its the company's policy to do so, and also says they donate food daily to local shelters to help clear their shelves.
"Everything that we deem is able to be consumed safely we donate to our neighbors and we're really happy to participate in helping the community in that way," Sorscher said.
On Wednesday, stocking the shelves and refrigerators at Kalamazoo Gospel Mission with fresh cheeses, meats, produce and more.
"They just really exemplified a culture of generosity and we're just so thankful for them," Weaver said.
The Kalamazoo Gospel Mission provides three free meals daily, serving about 600 meals every day. Weaver says 95 percent of the mission's food comes from donations.
The mission was able to store most of the food, but they actually decided to donate about 4,000 pounds to 12 Baskets, a local food pantry.
helix19 on January 7th, 2018 at 03:24 UTC »
Trader Joe’s is great. I volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center and they donate a ton of produce to us.
manzanita2 on January 7th, 2018 at 02:57 UTC »
TJ's did almost same thing in Santa Rosa, California after the big fire. The fire burnt the neighborhood the store was located in which mean the store needed to be shutdown for some period of time. TJ's donated the entire stock, and then moved all the employees from that store to another nearby store (which, of course, had hugely increased traffic). All in all, smart and generous!
Lesbian_Seagall on January 6th, 2018 at 23:52 UTC »
I live in Kalamazoo/Portage and this is the first time Ive become aware that we have a Trader Joe's.