Site Coordinators Bring Mobile Food Pantry to Dearborn

Watch the CIS Site Coordinators Zahraa Ahmed, Gina Mroczka, and Ali Mashhour in action as they help bring the Gleaners Community Food Bank Mobile Food Pantry to students and families in Dearborn Public Schools! The Gleaners Mobile Food Pantry is an important CIS support, because hungry students are unable to perform at their optimal ability. The CIS site coordinators' involvement in this effort is crucial, as Ali explained, "We bring this partner into our school so that we can organize mobile food pantries and feed our hungry families in our city. We serve over 125 families per food drive."

This is Zahraa's second year hosting food mobile pantries at Lowrey School in Dearborn. "The fact that I continuously see the same 125 faces at each distribution, I know these families are waiting for us each month to provide them with healthy food." shared Zahraa.

The Mobile Food Pantry is a collaborative effort, not only with our partner Gleaners and Dearborn Public Schools, but also includes students volunteering by handing out food and helping with setup. Zahraa explained how, "Our students are eager to be a part of this heart-filling experience. During the distributions you see the compassion and dedication from our students to give back to their community." This a great example on how CIS helps to meet a variety of needs from hunger to opportunities for students to participate in service learning.

This is just one way the CIS of Michigan team is helping the Dearborn community address hunger. Zahraa said, "As a CIS site coordinator, I have bridged the gap by providing families an easier and more comfortable way of receiving food assistance."

Julia Cawvey