Ford Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Thanksgiving Day Meals to Thousands of Homebound Seniors



Ford Motor Company Fund unites with Detroit Area Agency on Aging (DAAA) for the 10th consecutive year to supply holiday meals to more than 6,000 area seniors
Ford Fund to donate $50,000 to DAAA as part of national hunger relief efforts in 2017 that provide millions of hot meals
Ford employees and their families join community efforts on Nov. 22 to assemble and deliver Thanksgiving meals to more than 6,000 homebound seniors
DETROIT, Nov. 20, 2017 – For the 10th consecutive year, the Ford Motor Company Fund is teaming up with the Detroit Area Agency on Aging as part of the Holiday Meals on Wheels Thanksgiving program. This decade-long partnership creates an opportunity for more than 6,000 area homebound seniors to enjoy a hot Thanksgiving Day meal.
Ford employees, their families, and the community will come together at Valley Services located at 1980 Bagley in Detroit starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22 to assemble freshly prepared meals for the community. Ford’s donation of $50,000 to DAAA goes toward the food for the Thanksgiving meals and provides additional funding for the daily meal service throughout the year.
“At Ford, we want to help make sure that no one goes hungry especially during the holiday season”, said Pamela Alexander, director, Community Development, Ford Motor Company Fund. “We are proud of our decade long sponsorship of Meals on Wheels.”
Ford Fund also continues to join The Parade Company and Gleaners Community Food Bank to help feed the hungry in southeast Michigan during the holiday season and beyond.  According to Gleaners, approximately 670,000 people in southeast Michigan will face hunger insecurity this year, including more than 200,000 children.
“As we celebrate with friends, family and a hot meal this holiday season, in our community, there are many isolated and hungry homebound seniors and disabled adults. This is why we are sharing the love and feeding one of our most vulnerable populations on Thanksgiving,” said Paul Bridgewater, DAAA president and CEO. “We are very thankful for the Ford Motor Company Fund. With their generous donation, we are feeding 6,000 seniors. For us and the seniors we serve, we could not do it without Ford Motor Company Fund volunteers and financial support.”
This year, the community has an opportunity to join DAAA and Ford to make contributions to the Meals on Wheels program during their first television telethon. The program will air on Dec. 3, 2017, at 7 p.m. on WADL-TV Channel 38. Ford will be a featured sponsor during the telecast. The additional contributions from the community will help to ensure that citizens in need have hot meals throughout the holidays and beyond.
Ford Fund is dedicated to strengthening and helping the community. The company works year-round to aid in reducing hunger in a number of ways:
Ford Fund has opened a new Ford Resource and Engagement Center in a school on Detroit’s east side – increasing access to basic needs (a food pantry) and services in one of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods
Ford and United Way for SE Michigan operate a fleet of 20 Ford Mobile Food Pantries that travel the Detroit area daily collecting and distributing food for hungry families
Ford’s Thirty Under 30 philanthropic leadership program focused on food insecurity during the past year. Thirty U.S. salaried employees age 29 and younger worked with non-profit community partners to address innovative ways to improve food and meal services to people in need
Along with reducing hunger, Ford and the Ford Fund have made community investments totaling $166 million in southeast Michigan over the last 10 years. Ford Fund works with partners in the Metro Detroit area to offer support in a number of educational and community programs. The company is also continuing its three-year sponsorship commitment with The Parade Company – producer of both America’s Thanksgiving Parade and the annual Ford Fireworks.



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