It was Barbara Bronstein’s personal waste-not/want-not philosophy that led her in 2015 to create Second Servings of Houston, the city’s first program to recover or “rescue” prepared food to help feed the needy.
A great city, unfortunately, has great waste. It was Second Servings’ mission to collect tons of chef-prepared food — from hotels, caterers, convention centers, sports arenas and restaurants — that normally would have gone to the landfill and channel it via same-day delivery to charitable-meal sites, such as Houston-area shelters, soup kitchens and low-income housing.
While Second Servings has since rescued more than 4 million pounds of food valued at $40 million, Bronstein was careful about growing the organization, which has a small paid staff.
The coronavirus pandemic changed Second Servings’ model dramatically. With the food-supply chain suddenly upended, there was an abundance of food to rescue with the closure of corporate cafeterias, hotels, schools and venues forced to shutter. Bronstein knew Second Servings had to grow and adapt to the new realities. With thousands out of work, food insecurity became an even more acute problem throughout Houston. It was an opportunity for Second Servings to expand its outreach, serve more people and raise its profile.
“We are very cautious about how we spend our money because people are counting on us to use it judiciously. We’ve always been very efficient, and we wanted to maintain that efficiency,” Bronstein said. “The pandemic taught us that flexibility is important. We learned we needed to take some risks — calculated risks.”
How to help
To volunteer, donate
or receive food, see secondservingshouston.org.
The first of those risks was a new program called Dinner’s on Us, a partnership with Houston-based Sysco and Hess Corp. to prepare tens of thousands of meals for families. Originally aimed at distribution to the beleaguered hospitality industry, Dinner’s on Us prepares meals for all those in need; 14 events in Houston and three in Galveston were held during the pandemic. A distribution of 28,000 meals in early September was a collaboration with the Rockets.
To date, Dinner’s on Us has distributed more than 70,000 meals, serving nearly 10,000 families beyond the thousands it reaches monthly through its rescue deliveries.
The pandemic also allowed opportunities for expansion: more trucks (thanks to Acme Party Tent Rental Co.); additional paid drivers; new partners (40 new food donors came on board); increased charity-recipient sites and expanded geographical footprint; and taking in more food. Through August, more than $18 million worth of food was rescued. And Second Servings purchased food so that Dinner’s on Us could produce mass quantities.
The organization’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. In August, it received a $100,000 grant from the ReFED COVID-19 Food Waste Solutions Fund, a national nonprofit working to advance solutions to reduce food waste. Second Servings was one of only two Texas-based organizations among 37 nationally to receive grants totaling $3.4 million from ReFED.
Bronstein’s risk to grow Second Servings has paid off.
“We want to keep our profile growing. Most food-rescue organizations across the country still operate under the radar,” she said. “If anything the pandemic produces, it’s that people will waste less. Food is more precious than ever. Hopefully, people will value it more and waste less.”
greg.morago@chron.com
"feed" - Google News
September 26, 2020 at 06:00PM
https://ift.tt/2S2eZuQ
Second Servings expands program to feed more needy in Houston - Houston Chronicle
"feed" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2z3xEQN
https://ift.tt/2yko4c8
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Second Servings expands program to feed more needy in Houston - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment