2021’S
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The Starkweathers may not be wealthy (“We have a six-figure income, if you count the two zeros after the decimal,” Tom jokes), but they found funds needed with Give and Grow. Gleaner Life added a $1,000 prize award that the Starkweathers also directed to the food bank to purchase additional food.
PROJECTS Individual members find their own ways to use Gleaner funds and make life better in their communities. Improving communities can begin simply by looking around. That was the case for Gleaner members Debbie and Tom Starkweather of Battle Creek, Michigan, whose efforts to provide food at a large food bank ended up being one of the best Give and Grow projects of 2021. As community volunteers helping children, Debbie and Tom Starkweather saw increased community hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It breaks your heart when kids come to school hungry,” Debbie said. “In Calhoun County there are a lot of people who don’t have food. ... I read about Gleaner’s Give and Grow program and I decided it was time to do something.”
Tom and Debbie Starkweather used Good and Grow money in 2021 to furnish cereal, soups, and other items especially needed by the South Michigan Food Bank. Debbie’s project followed an earlier project by Tom in which personal care kits (below) were given to Charitable Union for distribution to local homeless people and others in need.
The Starkweathers have worked together on hunger relief before through Scouting for Food. In March of 2021, Tom Starkweather had used a Give and Grow grant to provide hygiene supply kits to Charitable Union, a Battle Creek thrift store that helps people in need. The food bank project was the first one that Debbie Starkweather had received. The couple enlisted their daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Checking with the South Michigan Food Bank, they discovered a particular shortage of breakfast cereal and soups. Debbie found a good price at a local supermarket and loaded numerous carts with all she could buy. “We were loading up our carts,” Tom added, “and the checker kept asking, ‘Who is this one for?’” The store ended up giving them a discount, and the food bank received a nearly full pallet of food. “They were so appreciative of what Gleaner did for them. It hit them at the right time,” Debbie said.
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\ Spring 2022 \ Forum Magazine
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