Lenz-Balder Insurance donates to Lakeshore Food 4 Kids.

Lenz-Balder Insurance donates to Lakeshore Food 4 Kids.

LUDINGTON — Lenz-Balder Insurance recently donated $2,240 to Lakeshore Food 4 Kids. 

“As COVID-19 began taking a toll on family budgets earlier this year, we started to look for ways we could help our local community,” said Jon O’Connor, sales and marketing manager at Lenz-Balder Insurance, located at 201 E. Court St. “One of the big needs that became clear was the basic need of kids to have a healthy balanced meal.  This was an even bigger concern with many schools going remote.  One organization that stood out for the work they were doing to feed kids was Lakeshore Food 4 Kids based in Ludington.”

In June, Lenz-Balder partnered with Lakeshore Food 4 Kids with its Quote for Kids program. Each quote request or customer referral resulted in LBI giving a $5 donation to the organization.  LBI then added an additional $500, totalling $2,240.  

On Wednesday November 18, Marc Lenz and O’Connor presented a check to Steve Hull, Becky Erickson, Carrie Brandt and Sara Ewing from Lakeshore Food 4 Kids.

“The  Lenz Balder donation will help to feed the 150 kids that are served weekly by Lakeshore Food 4 Kids,” said Brandt, who is a co-founder of Lakeshore Food 4 Kids and an employee of LBI. “This generous donation is a great example of a local business helping their community through a very difficult time.”

Lakeshore Food 4 Kids is a weekend backpack program for food insecure students in the Ludington Area School District. According to Feeding America of West Michigan, one in five youth in Mason County is food insecure, meaning they lack access to enough food to meet their basic needs. 

“The mission of LF4K is to diminish the meal gap for food insecure students over the weekend so they are better prepared to learn,” Brandt said. “This is done with the help of teachers and counselors who help identify the students in need. The backpack food is distributed to participating children at school as they leave for the weekend or before a long break. With virtual learning taking place bags continue to be distributed through the help of the staff at LASD.”

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