Over 200 families receive Thanksgiving dinners through Food Club, Mel Trotter collaboration. 

Over 200 families receive Thanksgiving dinners through Food Club, Mel Trotter collaboration. 

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

LUDINGTON — Over 200 Mason County families were treated with Thanksgiving dinners thanks to a collaboration between Lakeshore Food Club of Ludington and Mel Trotter Ministries of Grand Rapids. 

ONealya Gronstal, executive director of Lakeshore Food Club, located at 920 E. Ludington Ave., said she was contacted by Dennis Van Kampen of Mel Trotter who asked about providing the turkeys to Ludington area families. 

“When Dennis reached out to me last week to ask if they could bless our community with Thanksgiving dinners, I wanted to find a way to make this gift as impactful as possible to as many as possible,” Gronstal said. “I contacted my local friends serving in partnering agencies to see if they wanted to participate. That led to a list of 200 families that those agencies personally delivered each meal.”

Gronstal said she and Van Kampen have been friends for a couple years, going back to when she worked in the Wheeler Mission homeless ministry in Indianapolis. “We both share a heart to serve the hurting and most vulnerable,” she said. “Dennis cares deeply for my work here in Mason County and has been a huge source of encouragement and support. His friendship goes beyond personal, he has brought the entire Mel Trotter family into our friendship.” 

Van Kampen said helping the Lakeshore Food Club is a great collaboration. 

“Today was a beautiful picture of collaboration and community care in the middle of uncertainty and hardship that is affecting so many in our community right now,” Van Kampen said. “It means so much that our small community is loved in such a big way by Mel Trotter Ministries. I am so thankful for their continued friendship to our community.”

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