Big Checks and Bobby Holley: Family Fare Celebration Goes Beyond the Ribbon Cutting

By Maggie LaNoue , Contributing Writer
April 24, 2026

While the ribbon cutting was underway inside the newly renovated Family Fare on Thursday, April 16, something else was happening in the parking lot. Bobby Holley, dressed head to toe in his trademark red outfit, was performing for shoppers — singing, dancing, and raising money for children in need. It was a fitting addition to a celebration built around giving back.

As part of its grand reopening events at three renovated mid-Michigan stores, Family Fare and SpartanNash presented $2,500 donations to local schools at the Albion and Marshall locations. The school donations reflect SpartanNash’s broader corporate giving philosophy, which focuses on three pillars — Hunger, Heroes and Hope — and a commitment to building stronger communities where the company lives, works and serves.

At the Albion event, Harrington Elementary School in Marshall received a $2,500 donation. Principal Beth Brownell accepted the oversized ceremonial check and said the gift would “go a long way” for the school and its students. Harrington is part of Marshall Public Schools, home of the Redhawks.

Two days earlier, at the Marshall grand reopening on April 14, Marshall Public Schools received its own $2,500 donation, accepted by Superintendent Rebecca Jones and Marshall High School Principal Matthew Siebert.

SpartanNash also recognized Bobby Holley’s community efforts with a donation toward his bicycle project — no oversized check, but a meaningful contribution.

Holley, a Battle Creek native, has spent nearly 40 years turning attention into action. He has crawled on his hands and knees from Battle Creek to Detroit — a journey that took 11 days and nights — and made similar crawls to Lansing, Marshall and Kalamazoo to raise awareness about violence, drug use and crime. According to a 2024 alumni spotlight published by Kellogg Community College, where Holley earned his associate degree, he can regularly be seen on city streets dressed in all red as his alter-ego Peaceman, casket in tow, calling for peace against gun violence. He also earned a degree from Western Michigan University and received a KCC Alumni Award in 2023.

On April 16, Holley was raising money to buy bicycles for children in Union City affected by the March 6, 2026 EF-3 tornado — the strongest to strike Michigan in nearly 50 years. The storm killed three people, injured 12 more, and prompted Governor Gretchen Whitmer to declare a state of emergency in three counties.

The school donations and community contributions reflect SpartanNash’s commitment to strengthening the communities where it operates. For Albion, Marshall, and Eaton Rapids, the combination of renovated stores and gifts to local schools sent a clear message: Family Fare is not just open for business — it is invested in the people it serves.