Twelve more mobile food pantries coming to Houghton, L'Anse, Ontonagon

Mobile pantries such as this are coming to Houghton, L'Anse and Ontonagon each month through the rest of 2020. (Photo courtesy Portage Health Foundation)

HANCOCK -- Portage Health Foundation (PHF) is proud to announce 12 additional mobile food pantries coming to Michigan’s Copper Country, with visits to Houghton, L’Anse and Ontonagon scheduled for each month through the end of 2020.

"This has been a challenging year for all of us," said Kevin Store, executive director of PHF. "For some folks in our community, this has meant choosing between paying for food or paying for other necessities. We’ve seen a new group of people who have never had to navigate through things like unemployment or accessing some of the programs that are there to help people in financially challenging times."

The mobile food pantries are funded by Portage Health Foundation in partnership with Community Action Food Pantry, Ontonagon Area Schools and Feeding America West Michigan. At each of the mobile food pantries that took place in August, every family that waited in line received food.

"Everyone needs food! What is most satisfying is that these events are filled with hope and a sense of community," Store said. "I am grateful that we have been able to collaborate with others in our community to make this happen and thankful for the people coming out to each distribution -- all of this food is finding its way to our community."

Each mobile food pantry will provide a variety of foods, including fresh produce and dairy items, to approximately 300 families. For these distributions, attendees will not have to show identification or proof of income to receive food; however, they will be required to provide basic contact information and affirm that they are in need of food. Boxes of food will be provided in a drive-through format. Each event will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Upcoming Mobile Food Pantries

 --  Thursday, September 10, 2 p.m. at Community Action Service Center in Houghton (310 E. Sharon Avenue)
 --  Thursday, September 17, 2 p.m. at Meadowbrook Arena in L’Anse (204 Division Street)
 --  Thursday, September 24, 12 p.m. at Ontonagon Area Schools in Ontonagon (701 Parker Avenue)

At the beginning of each month for the remainder of the year, details about the next month's mobile food pantries will be released. A schedule can also be found anytime at feedwm.org/mobile-pantry-schedule.

COVID-19 Community Recovery Fund

These events are being funded by Portage Health Foundation’s COVID-19 Community Recovery Fund. This is a restricted fund maintained for the purpose of mobilizing resources for the citizens of Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties. All monies contributed to this restricted fund will be used locally for the distribution of health/humanitarian relief.

To support this and other projects like it, visit phfgive.org/covid19 .

Rozsa to present free virtual performance of Manual Cinema's "Lula Del Ray" Sept. 4

 

Lula del Ray. (Image courtesy Rozsa Center)

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center brings original, creative, groundbreaking arts to the Keweenaw, whether audiences are in person or online. In that tradition, the Rozsa is proud to host their inaugural virtual performance of Lula Del Ray by Manual Cinema, an award-winning artistic company that has pushed the art and crafts of filmmaking, puppetry, and live performance in an exciting and breathtaking new artistic direction.

Lula Del Ray -- the story of a young girl experiencing life, teenage angst, and new, sometimes haunting adventures -- combines handmade shadow puppetry, innovative cinematic techniques, and live sound and music to create an immersive, haunting, and entirely unique performance. Join online for Lula Del Ray, streaming FREE, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4. The performance will be available for viewing for 24 hours, so you can catch the show anywhere, at a time that works best for you.

You can access the link on mtu.edu/rozsa close to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept 4. You will have to enter your email address to receive the link with a passcode, via automated email: the concert live stream is password protected.

Following the performance, the artists of Manual Cinema will host a live webinar at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8, where they will pull back the virtual curtain and guide audiences through their innovative blend of lighting, puppetry, and cinematic techniques -- all the elements that make their award-winning creations come to life.

Manual Cinema is an Emmy Award winning performance collective, design studio, and film/ video production company founded in 2010 by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller, and Kyle Vegter. Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design, and a live music ensemble, Manual Cinema transforms the experience of attending the cinema and imbues it with liveness, ingenuity, and theatricality.