St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Garden City taps into state's pent-up returnable supply, and comes away with an overflowing two-car garage
GARDEN CITY — COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown created a unique problem for Michiganders, conditioned not to throw away bottles and cans in the name of reclaiming 10 cents.
What in the world to do with all of those empties?
After Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in March suspended bottle and can returns in an effort to slow the coronavirus, returnables stacked up — and sometimes literally overflowed — in garages and basements across the state.
Now, with returns accepted again, at least one Metro Detroit parish has found a way to turn empty cans into a full food pantry.
With the ban lifted, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Garden City asked its parishioners and surrounding community to donate their empties in order to raise money for the parish food pantry. After three weeks, however, the parish had to stop accepting donations after packing the rectory’s two-car garage to the brim.
“I had no idea it would be this much,” said Paul Shafer, music director at St. Thomas the Apostle, who organized the drive. “It’s a little overwhelming. We ran out of room in our garage and the area behind the garage, so we couldn’t take any more. We already counted 13,000 cans, and that hasn’t made a dent. There are probably at least 50,000.”
For those counting, 50,000 cans at 10 cents apiece would be $5,000 — not a bad fundraiser by any stretch of the imagination. And given the economic crunch caused by the pandemic, the money will be put to good use.
Shafer said parish staff is separating and organizing the empties, putting them into bags of 100 and trying to figure out how to process them all, given that stores are encouraging people to limit how many returns they make at once.
“Hopefully we can contact a store soon to take them back,” Shafer said.
St. Thomas the Apostle’s food pantry has been in operation for three years, solely funded and supplied by St. Thomas parishioners. The pantry has seen an increase in demand because of the COVID-19 crisis.
“When we first started, we were open twice a week, maybe seeing 20-25 people,” food pantry director Janice Thibodeau said. “We used to be open twice a week, but for now are only open on Thursday.”
During the crisis, Thibodeau and the St. Thomas food pantry team has prepared bags of food for people to take without leaving their vehicle, as opposed to the grocery store style they employed before the coronavirus hit.
Thibodeau said other panties, such as one at the Maplewood Community Center and the parish pantry at nearby St. Mary Parish in Wayne, have also been instrumental in providing assistance in the area.
Even apart from the wildly successful bottle and can drive, Thibodeau said parishioners have increased their donations during the economic crisis, but the pantry needs a new refrigerator to store meat and dairy products.
“It would have a tremendous impact on the types of meats, like lunch meat, hamburger patties, cheese, milk and butter, we can serve,” Thibodeau said. “It will allow us to put fruits and vegetables in there. This will have a great impact on the food pantry, which is a great service to the community.”
