General Manager Thorsten Willmann, of the J. Rettenmaier plant on US 131 just north of Schoolcraft, presented a check to Becky Orfin, the new leader of the Schoolcraft Friday Pack program that feeds kids who might go home hungry over the weekend.
Pictured from left to right: Caroline Schroeder, marketing coordinator; Lisa Platte, employee organizer of the campaign; Becky Orfin, Thorsten Willmann, general manager; employees James Commissaris, and Paula Rumsey.
The employees of J. Rettenmaier in Schoolcraft have conducted a food and money drive for the Friday Pack program run out of the Eagles Nest. Their generosity has supported Schoolcraft school children for the last four years. Nearly $5,000 in contributions along with packaged food from the employees and the company has been collected in 2014. The Friday Pack members also actively adopt needy kids and their families to gift them at Christmas time, Orfin said.
Rettenmaier also has plants in Portage and Iowa from which generous donations were collected for the Schoolcraft Pack program, according to Platte. The large amount of money brought tears to Becky Orfin’s eyes as she was offered the check from Willmann on behalf of the company and its employees.
“There is a great need, with almost 22 percent of students in our schools qualifying for free and reduced priced lunches,” Orfin related. “As the new president of the Friday Pack, I am following in Board President Sue Kuiper’s footsteps. She saw a need and worked to fulfill it and intends to continue overseeing Adam’s Kids as it expands helping young mothers with early intervention needs. Fortunately, she will stay on the board. Kuiper was aided by Jan McNally who is stepping down from the board to concentrate on the Food Pantry program. Both of them with be greatly missed. Mariam McKim, a banker at the Schoolcraft branch of Lake Michigan Credit Union, will be a new trustee on the Friday Pack board.”