My friend, John Williamson came up with a brilliant idea two years ago: Collect food that would be thrown out and deliver it to hungry people. Yes, there are organizations that do this type of thing but Food Rescue is different. They have a relationship with Panera Bread and Little Caesar’s and collect the food that would otherwise be thrown away at the end of a day’s business.
In two years’ time, they have collected millions of dollars worth of food. The organization, made up entirely of volunteers has become a national presence. From Oregon to Florida, Texas and Ohio, Missouri to Massachusetts, people are taking one night a month and helping hungry people.
This weekend, our church took some time to do service projects around the area. Food Rescue had two different options. First, we had two teams drive to the south side of Indy to collect pizzas from 5 different Little Caesar’s. It was then delivered to a downtown women’s shelter. The second option was for people who wanted to thank the 40+ Chapter Presidents across the country by sending gift cards, thank you notes, packages of chocolates and t-shirts. In total, we had more than 70 people take several hours of their weekend to be a part of the ministry.
Even better, a number of them went to the website and volunteered for future food pick ups. It was a great weekend. It was a real success.
