At Urban Mission Ministries (UMM), receiving food donations made organizational expansion a reality. On April 17, 2018, Sodexo at Trinity Medical Center, located in Steubenville, Ohio, became Food Recovery Verified. All of the prepared food Trinity donates goes to UMM, a  faith-based organization that provides food, shelter, and other essential services to low-income residents of the Ohio Valley.

About six years ago, UMM started picking up frozen prepared food donations from Trinity Medical Center. They continue to pick up donations every Thursday and reheat and repurpose the food for their weekly hot meal service from the Unity Kitchen. As time has gone on, the consistency of donations has allowed UMM to expand their operations to serve and support thousands of people throughout the community.

On January 1, 2018, UMM took over the City Rescue Mission homeless shelter which houses anywhere from 25 to 30 people at any given time. In order to feed additional people, UMM originally planned to hire a weekend cook. However, they realized they could channel the recovered foods donated from Trinity Medical Center for these weekend meals.

Now, UMM is able to feed those staying in the shelter over the weekends exclusively using donated foods that are reheated and repurposed. “This was a perfect match,” said Rick Patterson, UMM warehouse director. “Trinity was sending [the food] in a way that was perfect for us to use [for our meal service at the shelter].”

In 2017, Trinity Medical Center donated 5,192 pounds of food to UMM from their East and West campuses. UMM has been able to streamline their processes by directing donations into specific freezers based on where the food will be utilized. “The program [with Trinity] was set up very well and has run seamlessly since our partnership started,” Patterson said.

Reliable donations from Trinity Medical Center prove that food recovery can be standardized. These consistent donations are instrumental to UMM being able to serve hot, healthy meals to those in their shelter throughout the year.

Food Recovery Network is proud to verify that Trinity Medical Center is donating its surplus food to Urban Mission Ministries.

Trinity Medical Center’s recovery program and verified status were highlighted in a local news segment. Check it out here: http://wtov9.com/news/local/trinity-health-system-is-food-recovery-verified