Love INC of Muskegon serves thousands of families facing rising grocery costs and reduced benefits.
Development Director Joshua Alviar says an increasing number of families are struggling as grocery prices climb.
“Last year, we impacted 12,000 neighbors in need. Fifty-eight hundred of those neighbors impacted were facing food insecurities when the SNAP benefits initially got cut.”
Alviar says a partnership with Chobani’s La Colombe facility is making a difference.
“We went out to their warehouse facility in Norton Shores. We rolled our sleeves up right along with them and we packed 2,100 food donation boxes filled with essential needs that could supply a family for realistically, probably about 3 to 5 days.”
The effort delivered nearly 34,000 pounds of food to local families through several local organizations including Love INC and Creating Healthy Schools.
Addressing hunger is a nationwide priority for Chobani, says Vice President of Operations Bill Cooper.
“Nearly 48,000,000 Americans, including more than 14,000,000 children, lived in food-insecure households in 2024. We're looking at the data - the grocery prices are 2.7% higher as of July of this year than the year before.”
This marks the fourth year of Chobani’s “Let’s Eat” initiative in West Michigan.
Alviar says the supplies are critical.
“It just fills a void immediately and we started giving them out the very next day once we received them.”
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