Lakeshore Food Club (LFC) has officially expanded its operations with the creation of the Lakeshore Regional Food Hub, located in a newly acquired cold storage facility in Hart.
This marks a significant step in the organization’s growth, allowing it to better serve families across all corners of Mason County, and also positioning it to build on its regional model to cross into neighboring rural communities in Oceana and Lake Counties in the future.
The facility will operate as a centralized site for food aggregation. With built-in refrigeration and commercial processing space, it gives Lakeshore Food Club the ability to rescue, store, process, and distribute far more fresh, nutritious food than ever before. This is especially impactful for rural and underserved parts of Mason County, where food access has historically been limited by geography and transportation barriers.
For an organization that already supports over 2,800 households annually, this new capacity means programs like the Lakeshore Food for Kids backpack initiative and school-based food security projects “can expand without sacrificing quality or dignity,” said O’Nealya Gronstal, LFC Executive Director.
The Lakeshore Regional Food Hub was made possible with support from key partners, including:
- The Community Foundation for Mason County, which provided two years of launch funding
- The Michigan Health Endowment Fund, investing in rural health equity
- The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, through its new Food Hub and Farm Stop Grant Program
This expansion positions Lakeshore Food Club as a model for how community-based food systems can grow strategically while staying rooted in dignity, equity, and local partnerships. As Gronstal stated in the Mason County Press: “This isn’t just growth—it’s transformation. And we promise to steward it with the same integrity and care that has always defined Lakeshore Food Club.”
