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Local food banks hurting for donations

Posted at 8:22 AM, Nov 25, 2015
and last updated 2015-11-25 08:22:02-05

The Greater Lansing Food Bank is busy, but not busy enough.

"As you look around the food bank you can see, our shelves, many of them are bare," said Joe Wald, executive director at the Greater Lansing Food Bank. "And this time of year, traditionally our shelves are packed."

He's hoping the holiday spirit will last longer than the holidays this time around.

He says the food bank is losing steam, because big retailers that usually donate most of their food don't have as much leftover this year.

"They become more efficient, their purchasing becomes more efficient, they have less waste to them, so we get less food in from them," Wald said.

So people in Lansing are trying to help.

The "Food Fight" let local businesses compete for donations, but they can only help so much. Volunteers tell FOX 47 that about three thousand pounds of food is given away in two days.

Organizer Kathy Johnson from Downtown Lansing Inc. is just hoping the words "food drive" will encourage people to give.

"It raises the awareness of everyone when you do a big drive like this," Johnson said. "There are so many of us that don't even think about the fact that people have to go hungry."

Hoping to stop hunger every day of the year.