Community Plates: fighting hunger… right here in Fairfield County, CT

Like many of you, I am fortunate that I can run into our local supermarkets and load my car up with nourishing food so I can feed my family well, even on the busiest of days. And, while I have mastered the art of "re purposing leftovers" to cut down on our personal food waste, I never really thought about what happens to all of the unsaleable {e.g.: past due date}-- but still fresh and usable-- foods leftover in our local markets and restaurants. What you see above is one day's worth of unsaleable food, graciously donated by Trader Joe's Darien, CT store… which I was driving down the road and dropping at Person-to-Person's food bank.  And below, another day, another car load going between Trader Joe's Darien and New Covenant House in Stamford, CT.

How did I come to fill my SUV to the gills with all of that amazing food? Simple: Community Plates matches volunteer "food runners" {like me; like you--hint! hint!} with generous food donors {local supermarkets/restaurants} and very, very appreciative recipients of this food {shelters/soup kitchens/food banks}. It is so easy to volunteer. Simply sign up to be a food runner and you'll get access to an online schedule that shows all of the open "food runs" in your area. Show up ready to hoist a few crates or bags into your car, drive a few miles down the road to unload them-- and voila. You have made a difference. A huge one. You can do as many or as few runs as you'd like. Whatever fits your schedule.

In addition to current Fairfield County, CT food runs in Norwalk, Rowayton, Stamford, Darien, Westport, Fairfield, Danbury, and Greenwich, rumor has it that a few new daily runs might be popping up in New Canaan between both Walter Stewart's Market and Mrs. Green's Market, in addition to the weekly donations that come from Elm, so even more food runners will be needed! Please consider being a food runner. It's so easy.

Plus, just think about how much time all of us moms already spend driving to and from these towns on our normal errand circuit… add in a single food run every week or two-- or even just every once in a while-- and just think about the difference you could make in a family's mealtimes.  Need more convincing? Before we did our first run, I watched this video with my son. This was where we were going to be delivering that car load of crates above. Powerful, hmm?

And you're probably wondering what was in all of those crates too… I mean, is it really worth the time to be a food runner?

Look at all of this amazing food that would have gone to waste...

Instead, it was donated-- and because of volunteer "food runners"-- a family who might be going through a tough time had access to the same nourishing foods I take for granted.

 So, please, join me as a food runner. Click here to sign up or learn more.

Let's fill our trunks, and help fill the bellies and hearts of the food insecure right here in our community.

To see if Community Plates is organizing food runs in your area, click here.