This spring, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Midland, Michigan was excited to join the rest of the Ross campuses in supporting those struggling with a lack of food in their local area. In order to do that, they took the opportunity to volunteer at The Bridge Food Center in Midland. Everything done in this food center is done by volunteers.
The Bridge Food Center is a new Midland food center focused on bridging the gap between opportunity and accessibility to healthy food staples such as fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. The center stocks a variety of healthy options in their facility. People are then able to purchase these healthy food staples at low costs. Their focus is to provide an opportunity for Midland community residents to purchase healthy foods at wholesale prices. It is neither a food giveaway nor a grocery store, but its goal is between the two as a solution to a problem.
Currently, there are 11,200 people in Midland County who are food insecure, according to United Way. Food insecurity affects those who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. This is designed for those who need a little help putting food on the table. There are two qualifiers for the store — a need for help putting food on the table and a defined maximum income.
The center is also a learning station where recipes will be demonstrated using ingredients that can be purchased at the store. There is a station where a sample is provided, a one-minute video about how to make a dish is shown and then a bag with ingredients at a reduced price is offered. A lot of people may not know how to cook and may not have the time to prepare a two-hour meal. As students cleaned and stocked refrigerators and shelves, they did so with pride knowing that they were a part of an organization that provides food to one less hungry person at a time.