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REFLECTIONS OF OUR COMMUNITY
Volume 3, Issue 39 February 20, 2026
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Lakeshore Food Club to expand services in Oceana County By AnnaMae Bush
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opened a Food Club at the Mason County CenThe Oceana Echo Community Correspondent tral School. Last fall they pur“Food desert” and chased a warehouse at “food insecurity” are 1525 Industrial Park Dr. terms understood and in Hart to serve as the used frequently in the Lakeshore Food Club world of nonprofits. Regional Food Hub. The Food desert refers to an facility has enabled them area that has limited ac- to collect and distribute cess to fresh and healthy food to pantries in five food. Food deserts can counties. Gronstal reexist in rural or urban ported, “I anticipate our areas. They typically lack membership to grow by a grocery store but may an additional 1,500 or offer fast food or conve- more households when nience store food items our Food Club opens in that are less healthy than Hart late this fall.” Lakeshore Food Club fresh food. Food insecurity refers to inconsis- is investing to expand its tent access to fresh and service in Oceana Counhealthy food for various ty at a time when food reasons, often financial. assistance programs are It is ironic, a county facing possible cutbacks as rich in agricultural re- in funding. The Oceasources as Oceana Coun- na County expansion ty is also home to many will eventually have a families with food inse- Food Club in the former curity. Executive Director IGA building in Hart for the Lakeshore Food that is being remodeled Club O’Nealya Gronstal for community use by has seen the number of West Shore Communihouseholds served by ty College. Already the the Lakeshore Food Club Food Club is busy at the reincrease from 400 in 2020 6,000-square-foot to 2,800 households in gional warehouse hub in 2025. In 2017, the Lake- Hart. Staff and volunteers shore Food Club, 920 E. have handled approxiTinkham Ave. in Lud- mately 100,000 pounds ington, served only the of food since Dec. 1. They Ludington area. In 2023, have unloaded the food they expanded with a that has been donated, Food Club at the Gate- weighed the food, and way to Success Academy sorted and repacked the and this school year they items for distribution to other locations. “There are many misconceptions about people who seek food assistance. Our members are not primarily people who are unemployed. The majority, by far, are working people whose income has not
Food Hub Operations Manager Michael Trewartha, fourth from left, gave a tour of the warehouse in Hart currently being used by the Lakeshore Food Club, late last year. • Contributed by the Oceana County Economic Alliance
kept up with the cost of living. They include teachers, hairdressers and food servers with families to feed, clothe and house and who can’t keep up with expenses. They also include retired seniors on fixed incomes who can no longer afford what they could purchase a few years ago,” Gronstal explained Lakeshore Food Club is unique in several ways. While most food pantries are open for limited hours only a few days a month, the Food Club hours are flexible. While they are open during normal business hours Monday through Saturday, they may open early one day and remain open late a couple of days to enable workers to stop and shop outside of work hours. Hours are determined by the needs of the community. Food is “purchased” with points rather than cash, and members are given points each month determined by their income and household size. “The genius of the sys-
tem,” Gronstal enthuses, “is that the healthier the food is, the fewer the points are to ‘buy’ it. So we are creating greater access to healthy food.” That principle was evident at the Food Club at the Gateway to Success (G2S) school in Scottville. (See the Jan. 2, 2026 edition of the Oceana Echo) Food Club membership is available to qualifying individuals and households for a monthly $12 fee. Qualification is based on self-reported income and household size. No documented proof is required. Household income up to 200% of the federally defined poverty level qualifies for membership. That dollar amount differs with household size. Gronstal said, “The Food Club fills a very large gap. The federal SNAP food program serves households only up to 185% of the poverty level. There are so many families with food insecurity between the 185% level the federal government serves and the 200% level we serve. The
government definition may change from one year to the next. Prospective members can find income guidelines posted at every Food Club location, and they are discussed at membership registration.” How far does the monthly allotment of points go? “Most families can get sufficient food for 2 1/2 to 3 weeks before their points are used up. The points range from 60 for an individual to 150 for a family of five or more.” Food Club product sources are diverse. Gronstal recited the list: “Sam’s Club, Meijer and Costco and other grocery stores donate food. We receive food through Feeding America to redistribute to food pantries in five counties: Lake, Mason, Muskegon, Oceana and Newaygo. “From May through October we buy food from local farms. The state provides funds for MASS, the Michigan Agricultural Surplus Systems. We recently used MASS funds to purchase a large quantity of apples from a farmer in Coopersville and to transport them to our hub. There we sorted and packaged them for distribution.” She also shared, “Food purchase and transportation costs are our biggest financial burden - picking up and delivering donations to our hub, and then redistributing them to our Food Clubs and pantry partners. We depend on local donations and grants for
financial support to our program.” Do local stores feel threatened by the “competition” of the Food Club? “No. They see we are not competing with them, but supplementing food for families who cannot afford to buy all their groceries at most local stores. Grocers are concerned about food insecurity in their community and support our mission.” Food insecurity is frequently part of a constellation of challenges: housing, medical costs, car costs and the list goes on. That is the reason the Lakeshore Food Club partners with other community service organizations. Stay tuned for more news on those partnerships in a future issue of the Echo. Currently there is a need for more volunteers at the warehouse hub in Hart as shipments arrive throughout the week. Gronstal said volunteer shifts are only two hours long. The goal is to prepare the food for shipment to pantry partners. When the Hart Food Club opens, volunteers will be needed for stocking shelves and cashiering. A brief orientation is required to provide volunteers with food safety handling instructions and additional information to help in various roles. To register as a volunteer, go to aglossinger@lakeshorefoodclub.org or fill out a form on the website, www.lakeshorefoodclub. org/volunteers.
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Snowcoming in Hart
Queen Addison Schiller and King Caleb Ackley were crowned as Hart's Snowcoming royalty Thursday, Feb. 12 after the girls varsity basketball game. • Connie VanDerZanden/Echo