Mid-Michigan Dining

From an Old Town Commercial Association Press Release….

OLD TOWN PREPARES FOR ANOTHER COMPASSIONATE FEAST
100 local families to receive Thanksgiving baskets

Old Town, Lansing, Mich.- The Old Town Commercial Association (OTCA) is starting the
holiday season with the eighth annual Compassionate Feast, a program dedicated to supplying 100 local families under the federal poverty line with all the ingredients necessary to make a traditional Thanksgiving feast in their own home. Thanksgiving baskets will be distributed to local pre-qualified families on Monday, November 24 at the North Presbyterian Church, located at 108 West Grand River in Lansing’s historic Old Town district. Volunteers will sort, pack and distribute the food to local families between 9a.m. and 6p.m.The OTCA is still raising money to purchase groceries for the baskets. Compassionate Feast is a
community event, and could not be possible without the generous donations given every year from local businesses and community members. Every penny collected goes to purchase food. The costs are anticipated to be approximately $7,000 for this year’s baskets. People interested in donating are asked to contact the OTCA at 517.485.4283 for additional information.

In partnership with Head Start, Cristo Rey and EVE Inc., the OTCA strives to find families who
need the Thanksgiving baskets the most. The families are pre-qualified, contacted and confirmed in the weeks prior to the event. With the help of the West Saginaw Meijer, The OTCA will purchase food based on each individual family and their needs.

“We’ve had some great people step up to help us this year,” said Jamie Schriner-Hooper, executive director of the OTCA. “In addition to monetary donations, we’ve had a few unique donations. Troppo donated 50 turkeys, which would have cost us about $1,000; October Moon donated food and baby blankets. We also received in-kind donations from Great Harvest Bread Company, Grand Traverse Pie Company, TechSmith and Paramount Coffee.”

Now in its eigth year, the program was started by David Such, owner of Such Video, a video
production company in Old Town. Working as a young photographer on a story about a soup
kitchen during the Thanksgiving holiday provided Such with the inspiration for Compassionate
Feast.