Highland’s Community Sharing Outreach Center Brings Many Services Under One Roof
(Lilly Crossley, Aug. 4, 2023)
Highland, MI – The Community Sharing Outreach Center is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization based in Highland Township. The organization first started in 2004 and has been offering food and financial support for those in need within the Huron Valley School district ever since.
There are many programs that the center offers, including some made directly for helping children. One of these is the back to school program, which is a collaboration with the St. Mary’s Church in Milford. It takes place in August, and kids can receive gift cards, clothing, and food bags to help them prepare for the new school year.
The winter outerwear collection is another program for children, where local charities help collect and bring items to the center, and kids can pick out new clothes, such as boots, coats, gloves, and snow pants, for the winter. Any piece of clothing is important, but snow pants are an especially big item for families because most elementary schools require students to wear them when going outside.
Community Sharing also offers a tutoring program, in which anyone can get educational help that they need. This program was originally created for children, but a lot of teenagers now receive help as well. A lot of financial support goes to those wanting to take GED classes and tests, and some students have even received help to become a CNA (certified nursing assistant). One program that has gotten bigger recently is casework, where emergency financial assistance is provided to families. These emergencies are usually related to rent or utility payments, as well as the occasional car or home repair. The center also has ongoing programs throughout the year, such as home deliveries for food.
The organization’s main mission, as well as one of their biggest programs, is the food pantry. Donations are received all the time through food drives, and families are provided with anything they might need. The pantry received a major upgrade when a new building was created two years ago.
Community Sharing was previously housed in a retired elementary school, but the school’s district asked them to leave during the COVID-19 pandemic. A plan for a new building started in 2021, and they raised $880,000 in fundraising that year. Highland Township donated 10,000 square feet of land to the organization, and the actual building was built on that land with the fundraising money.
The facility includes a 2,400 square foot pantry, a waiting room, a business office, and a room where caseworkers can meet privately with clients. There is also a wing to collect donations for the garage sale fundraisers they host twice a year. This new building was a great way to help further achieve the center’s mission.
Along with garage sales, other fundraisers include food drives, such as summer lunches and cereal drives for kids.
Dave Bell, the president of Community Sharing, says, “I really like the food drives because the community is involved. They learn more about us, and they can go out and tell more of the community about what we’re up to.” The center also has a trivia night and golf outing once a year to help raise money. One major fundraiser, which will take place on November 5th, is Empty Bowl. A bunch of local restaurants donate soup for the event, and anyone can sample all of the soups by purchasing an empty bowl for $15. “The empty bowl is representative of what a family or child might see at their dinner table,” Dave explains, so this is a great way for community members to get a better understanding of what this organization is really about.
Bell has been with Community Sharing for nine years. He first started out as a food pantry manager and is now the board president and project manager for the building. He has been the president for five years, and he loves being a part of this organization because of its mission towards helping feed families.
“I’ve been involved with helping feed hungry folks for 14 years. I really love working with volunteers and helping figure things out because if I can keep them fired up and motivated, it helps everybody and the entire mission,” Dave says. One of the biggest impacts the center has provided is helping pay for peoples’ utilities and rent. “When you have somebody with an eviction notice or a shut off notice, with a couple of phone calls you can get that turned around, and that’s pretty cool,” Dave explains.
There are many ways for someone to help with the center. Anyone can donate money, clothes, or food to help support the garage sales and food drives. There is also a volunteer coordinator that helps find opportunities for those that want to help out. Volunteers are always welcome to help with sponsor shelf, which is when local businesses sponsor a specific shelf, such as eggs, milk, peanut butter, or toilet paper. Volunteers help by keeping the shelves stocked and organized, as well as receiving donations and preparing things for the food pantries and garage sales. Even doing something as simple as spreading the word about the organization makes a big impact.
The center was helping around 300 families a month before COVID-19, but a lot of those numbers went down during the pandemic because families couldn’t come in to pick out what they wanted. They were also getting a lot of help from government food programs at the time. Since February, with the number of food stamps going down and extra food programs going away, more and more new faces have been coming to the center. There is now an average of 700 people receiving help each month. With the increased interest in the program, along with the new building and food pantry, the Community Sharing Outreach Center will be able to successfully achieve their mission by helping hundreds of families in need for many years to come.
Community Sharing is located at 400 Beach Farm Circle, next to the Highland Township Library. Learn more at https://www.community-sharing.org/
