OAK PARK — The Ambassador Bridge will partner for the fourth year in a row with Forgotten Harvest to donate a portion of sales made during the holiday season at the Ammex Global Marketplace Duty Free store located at the bridge’s U.S. plaza and the Ambassador Duty Free at the Canadian plaza.
Thanks to the success of this international initiative in the past three years, this year’s partnership will take place now through Dec. 31.
As Metro Detroit’s only food rescue organization, Forgotten Harvest rescues surplus prepared and perishable foods and delivers them for free to emergency food providers throughout Southeastern Michigan. This year’s donations will benefit Forgotten Harvest Canada, a Windsor-based nonprofit that uses Forgotten Harvest’s model of food rescue to fight hunger in Windsor-Essex County.
This initiative adds to the ongoing support of companies and individuals affiliate with the Ambassador Bridge for Forgotten Harvest. Most notably, Nora Moroun has made the largest individual donation in the history of Forgotten Harvest with a $200,000 gift and joined the board of directors of the organization. Also, during the past year, the Moroun family donated 92 acres of land to Forgotten Harvest to raise fresh produce. As a result, 850,000 pounds of produce was harvested and delivered by Forgotten Harvest to recipients throughout the tri-county area in need of food.
Nora Moroun’s personal goal is to introduce Forgotten Harvest to the traveling customer and employees on both the U.S. and Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge. Ammex Global Marketplace and Ambassador Duty Free will be featuring and educating in-store throughout the campaign to achieve this goal.
“Forgotten Harvest is able to operate because of the generosity of organizations like the Ambassador Bridge and the thousands of people on both sides of the border who make individual contributions,” said Susan Goodell, president and CEO of Forgotten Harvest. “We are deeply appreciative of this partnership and the tremendous support that we have received over the past few years. Every day our Forgotten Harvest trucks pass over the Ambassador Bridge to rescue food from Canadian farms and greenhouses to benefit both Canadian and U.S. citizens in need. The Moroun Family’s donation of 92 acres this year for the growth of crops to provide food places Forgotten Harvest at the vanguard of human service organizations across the country helping those in need.”
Currently, it is estimated that nearly one in five people face hunger in Metro Detroit. Unemployment is estimated at 16 percent and the need for food is growing as families and individuals exhaust savings and benefits after years of unemployment.
“Ammex Global Marketplace is proud to be associated with Forgotten Harvest and help feed so many people,” said Stacey Kehr, president of the Duty Free Stores at the Ambassador Bridge. “Our contributions from Ammex and Ambassador Duty Free will once again turn into thousands of meals for needy people during the holiday season. We’re happy to support such a wonderful program.”
