Casual Friday usually means comfortable jeans at the workplace.
For Independence Township’s assessing, building, clerk, and treasurer offices, it also means helping out people in need. Township representatives presented a $500 donation Dec. 14 to Gleaners Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan.
‘It’s going to feed a lot of hungry people,? said Bob McGowan, Gleaners board member. ‘Dollars donated to the food bank go a long way. Efficiently administered, it feeds a lot of hungry people when the need is growing because of the economy.?
Five hundred dollars can feed 1,500 people ? one dollar can make three meals, he noted.
McGowan said he read on the front page of the New York Times about a week ago that the plight of community centers and food banks is a nation wide problem.
To participate in the township’s casual Fridays, each week employees would pay $1. It started when Shelagh Vanderveen took over as township clerk in 2005.
‘We collect this money, than we come up with an idea of where we can put it,? said Vanderveen.
Last year, they gave money to an individual who had young children and needed a medical procedure, but their insurance did not cover it, she said.
‘It’s a win, win,? said Beverly Shaver, township assessor. ‘We get to wear jeans and help other people at the same time.?
‘It’s nice to give something back,? said Kim Adkins of the assessing office.
McGowan said ‘Gleaners? is a biblical term for poor people who would come in after the harvest and pick up grains of wheat and corn left by farmers.
‘It’s a very powerful symbol, we feel, of people who, after the main products have been delivered, come in and accept what people have to spare,? he said.