Sharing Food & Strengthening Community with Samantha McKenzie

Sharing Food & Strengthening Community with Samantha McKenzie

May 20, 2026 · 39 min · Season 3 · Episode 7

About this episode

Samantha McKenzie discusses food rescue and community collaboration to combat food insecurity in the Great Lakes Bay Region.

Sam McKenzie, President and CEO of Hidden Harvest, joins the Max Loves Midland Show for a heartfelt conversation about food rescue, regional collaboration, and what it takes to ensure good food reaches the people and programs that need it most. Sam shares how Hidden Harvest works with restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, farmers, schools, hospitals, shelters, food pantries, recovery programs, and community partners throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region to reduce food waste and support families facing food and nutrition insecurity. The episode also explores Sam’s personal journey from growing up in Kingston to becoming a proud SVSU Cardinal, a nonprofit leader, a wife, a mother, a volunteer, a library board member, a Rotarian, and a Cub Scout leader. With a special focus on Midland County, Sam highlights the local businesses and organizations that help Hidden Harvest move millions of pounds of food each year, and shares upcoming opportunities to support the organization, including World Hunger Day efforts and the annual Celebrating Good Taste fundraiser. Through stories of service, partnership, and hope, this episode reminds us that when communities work together, resources go…

People in this episode

Host: Max Loves Midland

Guest: Samantha McKenzie

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hidden Harvest

Places: Great Lakes Bay Region, Midland County

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