LOVE INC AND LOCAL CHURCH OFFER RIDES TO THE GROCERY STORE

Description

Love In The Name Of Christ (Love INC) of Manistee and Faith Covenant Church are partnering to launch a new service that will provide bus transportation to help those living in a specific area of Manistee who once walked to Oleson’s Family Market for groceries. This new service, called M.A.N.N.A. (Manistee Area Nutritional Needs Assistance), is to help those struggling to get food in their home since Oleson’s Food Store closed. For many Manistee residents, there are no other grocery stores within walking distance and many on a tight budget cannot manage the cost of Dial-A-Ride. The first trip is scheduled to start Tuesday, October 18th, and will continue weekly as long as support allows. Transportation will serve low-income residents who need help living in Century Terrace, Harbor View, Manistee Place, and Horizon Pointe Apartments. There will be a bus pick up at each apartment complex - Century Terrace residents will be picked up at 9 am; Harbor View and Manistee Place residents will be picked up at Harbor View at 9:30 am; Horizon Pointe residents will be picked at 10:15 am. There will only be one pick up location at each apartment complex and one drop off location at Meijer. Riders can take 2 trips a month, based on availability of space. As more churches with buses or vans get involved, the frequency and locations of this service will increase and more people in need can be helped. Churches can call Love INC about how they can be included in this community service. Love INC will provide administrative support and register qualified individuals, and Faith Covenant Church will provide bus transportation and approved volunteer drivers. All riders must be qualified, pre-registered individuals processed through the Love INC Clearinghouse. They will be dropped off at Meijer to shop, picked up at specified times, and returned to their residency. Children will not be allowed to ride, as well as those with a felony criminal violence history. Once approved, one adult per household will have a seat on the bus, will be dropped off at the store, and then retrieved at a specific time. The bus will not be making any in-between stops. Priority will be given to persons who previously walked to Oleson’s and those with a medical need who have no other means of transportation. Call Love INC, 231/723-6613, for more information, to find out if you qualify, and to get signed up. Love INC is located at 390 River St. #103 in Manistee and the office is open Monday - Friday, 9 am - 3 pm. Love INC’s e-mail is info@loveincmanistee.org. There are many ways for others in the Manistee community to support this service. Financial donations to cover fuel and maintenance expenses of the church bus can be made by mailing a check, payable to Love INC of Manistee, to P.O. Box 28, Manistee, MI 49660-0028, or by going to their website, www.loveincmanistee.org, and clicking on “Donate Now”. Volunteers are also needed to help at Love INC to sign up qualified riders, to help coordinate schedules of riders, and to be bus driver assistants who can help riders load and unload their groceries. Volunteers helping at Love INC do not need to be a member of Faith Covenant Church, but must complete a Love INC Volunteer Application and go through a background check, interview, and approval process. Donations of eco friendly reusable grocery bags can also be given to Love INC to help riders transport their groceries. If someone is interested in becoming a driver, they need to be a Faith Covenant Church member with a CDL license and go through an approval process with the church. Planning for this transportation service began when Robin Paulus, Executive Director of Love INC, heard the story of one man who walked daily to Oleson’s, but began wondering how he would get food when the store closed. He said, “I can’t afford to ride the bus and I’d have to do it many times a month because the bus only allows you to carry two bags of groceries.” Robin contacted Faith Covenant Church about using their bus, and this began the partnership between Love INC and one person from the church with a desire to serve and help others afford and shop for their groceries.