A fundraiser for Milford Food Bank was held Nov. 5 at Milford School. The event included dinner, a live auction and a silent auction. InkFreeNews photos by Phoebe Muthart.

By Phoebe Muthart
InkFreeNews

MILFORD — “Gobble Up Hunger” was held Saturday, Nov. 5, at Milford School and included a haystack supper, a silent auction and a live auction. The event was a fundraiser for Milford Food Bank.

Milford Food Bank, 111 S. James St., Milford, had a meager beginning in 2010, serving just five local pantries with a borrowed trailer, forklift, building and a handful of volunteers.

In 2012, operations moved to the warehouse of The Papers Inc. From this location they served 50 pantries in 12 counties in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. The food bank was abundantly blessed in 2017 with the donation of a 5,000-square-foot building by the mission committee of the Apostolic Christian Church of America.

Milford Food Bank collects food from all over the United States.

Food rescue is an important part of the organization. The United States wastes around 40% of its total food production throughout the food production and consumption industries. Milford Food Bank partners with other food banks and all parts of the food industry to help rescue food that would otherwise be wasted.

It is open on Monday and Friday morning for distribution to its partners throughout northern Indiana and southern Michigan. It partners with food pantries, community kitchens, residence homes, backpack programs and other community food distribution organizations to distribute food collected from across the Midwest and throughout the United States and currently serves more than 130 of these organizations.

A faith-based organization, it is the mission of Milford Food Bank to share the love of Christ by providing food to the needy and food insecure. It is not, however, a food pantry.

People had a chance to get baked goods, among other goods, during the silent auction. There were 46 silent auction items.

During the live auction, people were able to bid on a variety of items. Some of the live auction items were hedge clippers, tool chest, a $100 gift certificate to Knepp Sand and Stone, Maple Leaf Farms products, 1890 Winchester rifle, a Polywood deck chair and wildlife feeders from Tractor Supply Company.

In total, there were 157 live auction items.

Operations Manager Bill Doege said, “Our goal is to raise $25,000 tonight and that doesn’t include our sponsors for the auction and dinner.”

A haystack supper was enjoyed by the attendees, with ice cream served for dessert.

To volunteer or help with distributions, Contact Volunteer Coordinator Carol Haab at (574) 518-4604 or [email protected].

To be a hauler, contact Doege at [email protected].

For more information, visit milfordfoodbank.org.

Pictured are Milford Food Bank’s Operations Manager Bill Doege, right, and Paul Fought.

Austin Beer, a Milford Food Bank board member, bids on a silent auction item.

Ida Schmucker and her daughters, Savannah and LeAnna, enjoy a haystack supper.

Doug and Doreen Ruch help serve dinner at Friday night’s fundraiser, which goes on until 8:30 p.m.

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Jim and Amy Conklin of Cultivate Food Rescue in South Bend look over live auction items.