{"id":424,"date":"2022-08-11T18:34:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T22:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.235.7.55\/?post_type=news&#038;p=424"},"modified":"2022-10-13T08:17:31","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T12:17:31","slug":"meet-lighthouses-new-director-of-food-programs-russell-estill","status":"publish","type":"news-items","link":"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/meet-lighthouses-new-director-of-food-programs-russell-estill\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Lighthouse\u2019s New Director of Food Programs, Russell Estill"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"modal-ready\"><p>\u201cI want to help people. I think food is a basic right for everyone,\u201d says Russell Estill, Lighthouse\u2019s new Director of Food Programs. \u201cI don\u2019t think people should have to make choices as far as food is concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Estill joined the Lighthouse team in January after serving more than 15 years in the non-profit sector. He oversees all food operations, including the emergency warehouse in Pontiac and Lighthouse\u2019s two satellite food centers in Pontiac and Clarkston.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to Lighthouse, Russell was Assistant Manager of the Focus: HOPE Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a federally funded food program that provides food to seniors. During his time at Focus: HOPE, Russell volunteered to deliver food during the holiday season. That\u2019s when he saw first-hand the difficult choices some seniors were forced to make.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne story is I was going to a senior\u2019s place. When we got there, it was warm because the gas burners were on, but no lights. They couldn\u2019t pay the electric bill,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThere are so many seniors going through so many issues: can I afford my medication, or can I have food? The need for our program, what Lighthouse is doing, is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Lighthouse team has seen a dramatic increase in the number of Oakland County families needing food assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation. Lighthouse is working hard to support as many families as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, Lighthouse moved its emergency food warehouse to a 22,000-square-foot facility in Pontiac, a more efficient and cost-effective location to better serve the community. The building, located at 120 E. Columbia Avenue, is a former Gleaners Community Food Bank warehouse. In a three-year, renewable agreement, Gleaners is providing Lighthouse a no-cost lease of the facility, while Lighthouse assumes operating costs and maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>Other efforts include a Saturday food pantry that provides food to close to 200 people. Lighthouse also partners to deliver food to more than 400 people taking part in the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). But Russell knows even more people are hungry (including children and families) \u2013 and he wants to help.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Understanding the critical need in our community] inspires me to look for other ways to address food insecurity and find new recipients,\u201d Russell says. \u201cPeople are experiencing these types of issues daily and a lot of us don\u2019t even know. What can we do to make sure they have food and receive it in a dignified and respectful manner?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about Lighthouse\u2019s programs, or to donate or volunteer, visit lighthousemi.org.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":425,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news_categories":[38],"class_list":["post-424","news-items","type-news-items","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_categories-employment"],"acf":{"photo_gallery":{"gallery":[[]]}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet Lighthouse\u2019s New Director of Food Programs, Russell Estill - Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/meet-lighthouses-new-director-of-food-programs-russell-estill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Lighthouse\u2019s New Director of Food Programs, Russell Estill - Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI want to help people. I think food is a basic right for everyone,\u201d says Russell Estill, Lighthouse\u2019s new Director of Food Programs. \u201cI don\u2019t think people should have to make choices as far as food is concerned.\u201d Estill joined the Lighthouse team in January after serving more than 15 years in the non-profit sector. 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