Food Rescue: U.S. Foodservice
I always relish the chance to escape my office and see our mission first hand. Whether it’s stopping by the Culinary Job Training classroom to taste the students’ creations, chatting up volunteers in the Hunger Relief kitchen while they chop, dice and cook thousands of meals each day, riding along to deliver meals to some of the over 60 agencies we serve, or tagging along on a food rescue trip - it’s always a good reminder of why I do the work I do. Yes, I’m lucky I have a fabulous job that mixes my profession (eliminating hunger and empowering people) and my passion(eliminating hunger, empowering people, and eating!). Today I got to accompany our driver Leonard Hughes on a food rescue trip to U.S. Foodservice in Fishers. Check out the slideshow below of our trip.
U.S. Foodservice holds the special position as Second Helpings’ very first food donor in 1998. And, to date, they are our single largest food donor. Last year alone, U.S. Foodservice donated 669,261 pounds of food to help us fight hunger and poverty in our community. They are also a financial donor to Second Helpings.
Leonard and I were greeted at the entrance by Dave, who showed us to our bay door and hopped on his forklift to get to work. The biggest thing that stuck out to me is how fast everything moved inside the warehouse. Over the next hour, and among a dozen or so forklifts buzzing up and down giant aisles packed with cases of food, Dave produced 8 full skids weighing close to 10,000 pounds. Among the stacks were fresh bananas, lettuce, lemons, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, milk and dozens of other items that will either make it into meals we send out to agencies, meals our students prepare while learning a new skill, or will be “redistributed” to 25 local food pantries to feed their clients. After loading our truck to capacity, Dave actually thanked us and said, “See you next Tuesday!”
Ben Shine is Communications and Development Manager at Second Helpings.
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