ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – Delta County organizations came together Wednesday afternoon to help veterans stock their pantries for Easter.
The Community Foundation for Delta County partnered with Enbridge, Thrivent Financial Services, and Feeding America to distribute 160 Easter baskets to local veterans and their families. Veterans who visited the drive-through distribution received $150 worth of ham, fruits and vegetables, side dishes, and chocolate eggs from Sayklly’s Confectionery & Gifts.
According to Cheryl Andzejewski, President of the Community Foundation for Delta County, each veteran drove away with enough food to make several meals.
“We know that at Christmastime, at the holidays, Thanksgiving, things are out there for the veterans,” she said. “We’ve found that Easter is a little bit more silent. It’s just a way of the Community Foundation for Delta County to give back.”
Enbridge staff members took on much of the workload ahead of the distribution, from storing food to preparing baskets. Many employees, like area manager Erica Fink, are veterans themselves. Fink says it is a privilege for them to support some of their own.
“The amount of brothers and sisters here that I’ve got that are veterans is incredible,” she said. “We all recognize it in each other. We give each other a good time and a little bit of ribbing for the various services. It’s just clearly a place where people are proud to be veterans and are appreciated by Enbridge as veterans, so we’re glad to work here. We owe our veterans everything, and the men and women that are in line right now, we have a lot of respect for them. We support them in any way we can because they’re part of our community, and that’s how Enbridge operates.”
This was the Community Foundation for Delta County’s fifth year of lending veterans a helping hand at Easter time.
Anyone interested in donating to the Community Foundation for Delta County is encouraged to visit givedeltacounty.org.
