BOSTON (WHDH) - Members of the Emerson College community worked with a non-profit Wednesday to donate leftover food not served to students in the dining hall.
Boxes of food were loaded into vans outside of Emerson's Dining Center. A few years ago, the Bon Appetit Management Company, Emerson's dining service, linked up with Food For Free, a non-profit dedicated to giving the community reliable access to healthy meals.
"I feel like it's a great use to give it back to the community and let someone be able to utilize it," said Dawn Sajdyk, resident district manager at Bon Appetit.
Bon Appetit donates leftover food to the organization every week, but made its largest donation yet at the end of the semester.
"Our students really care about sustainability and about being connected to the community, so this is a great way for us to both reduce our amount of waste that we create as a campus by diverting it elsewhere and then also to support our community by actually getting that food to local people in Boston who need it," said Jennifer Lamy, associate director of sustainability at Emerson.
On Wednesday, Emerson gave the non-profit about 350 pounds of food.
Volunteers picked up produce such as fresh butternut squash, brussels sprouts, and lettuce, to create meals as part of Food For Free's Heat-n-Eats program. They work with many colleges, hospitals, and companies in the Boston area, hoping to bridge the gap.
"It's really important to think about our food-insecure neighbors during this time, especially of celebrations and holidays. Food is such an important part of community and culture, and so we just really want to do our best to get the food to where it needs to go," said Molly Hansen, Food For Free's senior project manager.
Food For Free distributes to more than a hundred food programs in Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, and other cities.
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