Author: Stacy Stylianou

This past Saturday, Detroit Young Professionals volunteered at Forgotten Harvest in Oak Park. Established in 1990, Forgotten Harvest has been dedicated to helping eliminate hunger in the metro Detroit area by providing 280 emergency providers with locally sourced food from over 800 donors. Last year alone, the non-profit organization rescued over 48.8 million pounds of food, which otherwise would have gone to waste. To help put this in perspective according to food industry standards, one pound of food equals one meal.

DYP has had a relationship with Forgotten Harvest since 2012 and have since packaged a total of 15,000 pounds of food. "We love having DYP volunteers! They always arrive with smiles, high energy and enthusiasm and get so much work done," says Marci Fitch, volunteer manager for the organization.

Members who contributed their time were able to help clean, organize and sort 3000 pounds of food in just a few short hours which will help feed 3000 people. Members of DYP shared their first-time experiences with Forgotten Harvest,

“I enjoyed the event and met some really cool people. I would absolutely volunteer here again – it’s gratifying work.”

- Denine Simmons, student at Wayne State University

“Today was fantastic and I love Forgotten Harvest’s mission and what they do. Detroit Young Professionals provides their members with so much opportunity to connect through well-organized networking events, opportunity to continue learning through specialized and structured programs and perhaps the most important opportunity for me, is the opportunity to give back and invest time with other local organizations that provide great services to our community.

- Harmony Cook, sales and marketing administrative coordinator for Airfoil

Engaging with peers and organizations who lend a helping hand to the city of Detroit and its surrounding areas is a staple within the DYP organization. Be sure to check out www.detroityp.org for all future Service in the City volunteer opportunities and upcoming events.

Sources: www.ForgottenHarvest.org

Photo credit: Harmony Cook