Possiblity
From The Optimist Magazine
Summer 2014

In 2011 Ben Simon, then a student at University of Maryland, noticed that his school was wasting massive amounts of food, with one dining hall throwing out between 100 and 200 pounds of leftovers every day. Simon started taking the leftover food to local churches and food banks. The Christian Life Center, one of the places Simon donates to, feeds hundreds of people each month with the food he brings in.

Shortly after Simon began donating to local charities, he started the Food Recovery Network. Every day, about five student volunteers will show up at a given school’s dining hall, and cafeteria staff cart out the day’s leftovers. The food is weighed and packaged, and the students transport the leftovers to local food banks and churches for distribution. So far, the Food Recovery Network has donated more than 190,000 meals to hungry Americans.

The Food Recovery Network has grown from a few concerned students in Maryland to 55 chapters across 20 states. Anyone can get involved in the food recovery process by contacting their local chapter, or requesting to set one up if there isn’t one nearby. | D.H. | More info: foodrecoverynetwork.org