Members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Michigan Technological University will collect food donations Saturday, Nov. 7, to restock the pantry of Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, known as LBFE.
LBFE works with seniors across the Copper Country and focuses on building a sense of community among the region’s older residents. The nonprofit delivers items to seniors’ homes each month to stock their cupboards.
The fraternity and the nonprofit have worked together for several years. Philanthropy Chair Dominic Hall said the partnership has created lasting ties.
“We’ve done Easter dinners and Thanksgiving dinners with them. We’ve done a lot of wood chopping with them in the winters and spring. So it’s been great to get to know all the different leadership positions within LBFE and know that there’s a lot of community support from them too,” Hall said.
Hall said philanthropy helps the fraternity’s men grow in character and experience. He called the donation runs a lot of fun, too.
The food drive is one of LBFE’s largest annual efforts. Hall said the group collected just over 10,000 pounds of food last year, a record for the drive.
LBFE Senior Service Coordinator Kat Rawhouser said the brothers provide help the organization’s volunteers often need.
“So it’s really important to have all the different generations involved throughout the community. And the relationship has been really good. The brothers are very helpful. They provide the much needed muscle that sometimes we need, especially because a lot of the times our volunteers are also our elders,” Rawhouser said.
Rawhouser said the drive helps seniors who face food insecurity during the holidays and gives them extra food for their celebrations. LBFE also runs a monthly bag program throughout the year.
This year’s drive seeks reusable grocery bags, cereal, ground coffee and tea, jams and jellies, and peanut or other nut butters. Organizers also will accept canned or dried potatoes, ready meals, cookies and snacks, canned meats, canned tomatoes, and dried grains such as rice or pasta.
Rawhouser said cereal is a priority. “Cereal is one of those lighter weight items and they take up lots of space in people’s cupboards, and we really like to get the cereals because it’s one of the few things that we tend to run out of a little bit throughout the year,” she said.
Donors without a flyer can make their bags easy to spot by labeling them “LBFE” or “Lambda Chi Collection Donation.”
Residents who cannot wait for pickup can drop off donations at the LBFE Hancock Office until 5 p.m. Saturday. Anyone whose donation is not collected by 3 p.m. should contact the LBFE Hancock Office at (906) 482 – 6944.
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