Picture this: In one hour of virtual volunteering you have the opportunity to help ensure roughly 23 thousand pounds of fresh produce is identified and donated to communities in need. One hour of effort can mean the equivalent of 19 thousand meals being recovered because of you - and then you still have 23 hours left in your day. 

Now, I’m asking you to go beyond imagining it, and to spend one hour of your time during the month of December to help Food Recovery Network and The Farmlink Project. In one hour, you can help us by researching farms in specific regions, and then we’ll contact those farms to see if we can establish a recovery program with them. It’s literally that simple. We have found that on average, one hour of research translates into 23,000 pounds (or 19 thousand meals) of produce being recovered! Head to our website to sign up for one of our virtual Farmlink “Power Hour” volunteer events in December. 

Our Power Hours with Farmlink are a great way to volunteer with and connect with your colleagues, especially while so many of us continue to work remotely. I recently had the opportunity to speak with the employees of Groupon during a Lunch and Learn they hosted. During our conversation I spoke with the Groupon staff about how they have the opportunity to help and make a difference with just one hour of their time by joining us for a virtual Power Hour with FRN and The Farmlink Project. Though many of us are working virtually, we can still have a positive impact on our communities! We’re seeing a lot of people sign up this month and in fact, the FRN national team is having our own team building Power Hour on Nov 22! And we want to formally invite you and your company to join us, too!

The Lunch and Learn with Groupon was fantastic too because it allowed me to introduce the work of food recovery to their staff and why food recovery is so important. The Groupon team asked some very thought provoking questions that got me super jazzed to talk with them because I could tell they were curious and engaged. I was able to relay to the staff that in fact, before Groupon staff started working remotely because of COVID-19, Groupon had a wonderful corporate dining recovery program in place through which surplus food from their cafeteria was donated to Mercy Home in Chicago. I want to give a big thank you to Groupon for their leadership in directly supporting their community with food donations, and at the same time helping our environment by diverting perfectly good surplus food from landfills. 

If your company is interested in hosting a learning experience about why food recovery is critical to helping our neighbors in need, helping the environment, and improving our food system, please get in touch with me! We can cover any number of topics important to your company like I did with Groupon. 

To recap, there two ways you can be a hero to our food system:

1. Join FRN for our Power Hours this month. If your company is looking for a team volunteer experience, this is for you! Whether you are virtual, back in the office solely, or a hybrid, a virtual Power Hour ensures everyone on your team can participate no matter what! It’s fun—you’ll see! Just click the link on our homepage to sign up.

2. Host FRN at a lunch and learn, a virtual “happy hour,” or other time of the day that works well for your team. We are all part of our food system, and it’s important to understand our roles in it! I love to share more about the food recovery movement and how we’re all able to directly help our neighbors in our own communities today. Email me at info@foodrecoverynetwork.org to set up a conversation! 

I look forward to being in touch with YOU.

Regina