By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Oxford/Orion Fish food pantry hadn’t planned on giving turkeys to clients for Thanksgiving this year. But thanks to some last-minute donations, some large families in need were able to have the traditional/customary poultry dish on their table last Thursday.
The sudden outpouring took FISH’s vice president, Michelle Behm, by surprise. “I think everybody from their businesses or what, everybody has all these excess turkeys,” she said over the phone from her car last Wednesday, as she was scrambling to find and deliver the birds to the families that needed them most. “I’m like the turkey lady,” she joked.
One of the generous donors was NES Plumming, Heating & Cooling in Oxford. The company donated a 33-pound turkey from Spratt Farms in Goodrich. “We just like to try to give back to the community whenever possible,” NES office manager Aaron Drenikowski explained. “And we thought this would be a great time with the pandemic and people not really being able to provide for themselves.”
NES had dealt with Spratt Farms before and was impressed that “everything is all-natural, completely organic. No steroids or anything in their food. They do everything farm fresh at their facility.” When Spratt Farms learned what the purchase was for, they decided to match the donation with another turkey. FISH was excited to accept both turkeys because they knew of large families that needed them.
William Dreuth, an Oxford Township resident, brought a 26.28-pound frozen turkey to the township hall hoping to find a family in need of a Thanksgiving feast. “Everybody should be fed,” he told the township. “We have so much. It’s nice to (share) . . . It’s important to give back. It feels good.” The township contacted FISH, then delivered the bird to the pantry at 1060 S. Lapeer Rd.
FISH was able to accept because the Center for Disease Control just changed its guidelines about accepting and quarantining food donations. FISH had only been accepting monetary donations since March. After eight months, they are able to take donated food items again.
“Honestly, it’s exploded the last couple days,” Behm said. “So I’ve been kind of scrambling, getting ahold of clients, so this has been extra bonuses that I’ve been delivering for them. . . It’s going well, it’s been kinda fun.”
They hadn’t even had time to set up procedures to accept food donations again. “We’re a food pantry,” she said. “If we have people dropping off food – and that’s what happened, I literally had people say, ‘here’s a turkey’ and then they want to give me $100 – okay, I’m not going to turn any of them down.”
Behm hopes taking food donations again will help prevent food from going to waste by expiring. “I know there are a lot people out there that want to donate to us.”
Earlier this month for example, Caruso Chiropractic Clinic in Lake Orion continued its annual food drive tradition, and amassed an estimated 1,200 pounds of food for the pantry. As “a way of making chiropractic services available to everyone,” new patients received a free initial exam, x-ray and adjustment in exchange for a bag of nonperishable food.
At this time, FISH is only accepting food donations from the drop box in the lobby of the Lake Orion Post Office at 611 N Axford St.
Currently, FISH serves 466 clients. The numbers are actually down slightly, but the need is still great, especially for children. “The volume of large families, we have not seen before,” Behm explained. While there are about 50 fewer families than this time last year, the number of children is almost exactly the same. She is determined to keep those children fed. “I don’t ever want to hear about children not being fed in this community. I don’t care if it’s a weekend or what, but we’ll take care of them.”
Behm is beginning to see the effects of stimulus benefits running out. “It’s definitely going to be changing here in the next month or so, just based on what I’ve seen, so we definitely need the donations.”
Financial donations are still greatly appreciated and can be made online by clicking the “donate” button at OxfordOrionFish.org/donate, or by check mailed to the pantry.
Individuals can also contribute to FISH’s annual Christmas Gift Program, AngelFISH, now through Dec. 12. Donations will be used by FISH clients to buy presents for their children. For details, please call Lynn Kennis at 248-770-9775.