7 Ways to Improve Your Partner Agency Relationship Webinar

Yesterday, we hosted our first-ever webinar focused on strengthening your relationship with your partner agencies, also known as the hunger-fighting organizations our students work with in their local communities. Among the student leaders featured were the following:

Allison Blakeley of Rochester Institute of Technology, Lila Stenson and Asya Yukhananov of Goucher College, Emily Lebo of California State University in Fresno, Michelle Barakat of Susquehanna University (pictured above), Julianne Seykor of University of Arkansas, Rachel Carroll of University of Maryland and Stephanie Saunders of Portland Community College.

These students highlighted the ways their chapters affect change in their communities through their work with FRN. Julianne’s chapter, for example, recently hosted a roundtable discussion to hear directly from community members how FRN could better serve them. Michelle’s chapter started a monthly breakfast program to better connect students to the community they serve, and Lila and Asya hope to start a community garden to supply more fresh fruits and vegetables to their partner organization.

All of our speakers stressed the importance of establishing regular communication, organizing additional events or volunteer opportunities and giving voice to individuals experiencing food insecurity. To hear our students’ stories directly, you can stream the webinar recording here. We are constantly proud of the work our students do to fight hunger in novel, yet powerful ways.

To follow our FRNds’ lead and get engaged in your community this holiday season, check out these awesome events: National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth’s Home for the Holidays 2015 & National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week by National Coalition for the Homeless.

The #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy Story

Second Annual #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy launches with goal of raising $20,000

This year's #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy will help FRN recover our next one million pounds of food.

It’s here! The #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy has officially launched! 

For the month of November, Food Recovery Network’s national team and chapters nationwide are rallying together in a whirlwind of online and in-person fundraising to support our continued efforts to fight waste and feed people.

Here’s what you need to know:

What is GivingTuesday?

Giving Tuesday is a global day dedicated to giving back. Falling on December 1st this year, Giving Tuesday is a day to celebrate generosity after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

What is the #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy?

The #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy is Giving Tuesday with FRN flair. It’s a month-long, student-driven fundraising extravaganza. This year, our goal is to raise $20,000 (#20Kin30days) to support our existing chapters and to help create new ones.

Since FRN’s founding in 2011, we have grown to more than 150 chapters in 39 states and recovered nearly one million pounds of surplus food. Think about it. One million pounds of food that would have gone to landfills instead went to the bellies of hungry Americans.

This is especially significant given forty percent of food produced in the United States goes to waste while one in six Americans doesn’t know where his or her next meal will come from.

Our $20,000 #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy goal isn’t really about $20,000. It’s about making sure our existing chapters have the resources to sustain themselves. It’s about creating new chapters and expanding FRN’s presence to all 50 states. It’s about recovering that next million pounds.

Here's how YOU can help us reach our #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy goals:

• Make a donation on our Piggybackr page
• Follow Food Recovery Network on Facebook and Twitter and share our posts and Tweets about the #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy
• Find your local FRN chapter and be sure to attend any events they are hosting!

And don’t forget to spread the word using #GivingTuesday #FRNdzy on social media!

"If you have a problem, yo, I'll solve it"

FRN Executive Director Regina (far right) with The New School FRN student leaders and dining staff. 

I had the opportunity to attend two back-to-back events in Washington, D.C. this month: the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) fall convening, followed by Feeding America’s first-ever Food Recovery Summit, where I served on a panel discussing challenges in food recovery. I was surrounded by great minds and doers representing all areas of the food production chain -- from farming, to packaging, to selling, to recovering.

The two days were invigorating because, as leaders in both gatherings grappled with current and future problems plaguing their industry (understanding their data better, best practices to proliferate information, ways to reduce waste in all areas of food production), I knew that I had the answer to these varied problems. And I told the audience when I had a chance to speak.

The answer to all of their problems, current and future, is our students. Across the country, they’re working tirelessly to recover food on their campuses and in their communities; they are the solution all of these organizations so desperately need. They are the ones who will engineer new machinery for farming to leave less food in the field, they are the ones who will enact new national and state food policy, they will lead these companies and create new businesses, and they are the ones changing their behaviors to generate less food waste and move the dialogue from waste to recovery.

There was a room of nodding heads, as the understanding of what that can mean for how we think about food production. Things are already starting to look differently because of the power of our chapters. I was visiting The New School FRN chapter in New York and heard their story of the difficulties they faced in beginning to recover food. They persisted and began recovering about 60 pounds of food per recovery. Then, thanks to a realignment of commitments around sustainability, a shift occurred and dining services began to support their efforts. Now, The New School FRN is able to recover almost 200 pounds of food per event.

Our students are making these kinds of changes across the country each day, and I look forward to seeing this movement grow as each of them increase their individual skills as leaders, and as a collective they join forces to enact national change. Go team!

Meet Stephanie from Portland Community College!

Stephanie (center) receives the District Club Award for Best Service Project

Stephanie Saunders, the president of FRN at Portland Community College - Rock Creek, founded her chapter after stumbling across FRN online. Stephanie said she "followed [FRN] until she was ready to make [her] move" and that joining FRN was "one of the best and most rewarding things [she] has ever done." We think Stephanie is pretty awesome - read more about her and PCC - Rock Creek's chapter below. 

The Basics

Name: Stephanie Saunders

School: Portland Community College - Rock Creek

Year of Graduation: 2016

Major/area of study: Liberal Arts/Human Services

Position on leadership team: President/Founder of chapter

We asked Stephanie...

Where are you from? Originally from Temecula, California. However, Hillsboro, Oregon, is my home.

How did you get involved in FRN? I somehow came across the organization online a couple years back. I followed until I was ready to make my move!

Can you share a favorite FRN memory? I am amazed by the amount of students who want to make a difference.

What's one thing you love about Portland Community College? Portland Community College has done an outstanding job supporting students like myself who want to get involved and make a difference.

What are your ambitions post-graduation? I plan on transferring to another school, continuing my education and starting another FRN chapter!

What other organization(s) are you involved in? Food Recovery Network is the only organization I am a part of as of now. However, the greater Portland area is full of organizations trying to make a difference. As I continue my education and outreach I hope to collaborate with as many as possible. Getting involved with Food Recovery Network has been one of the best and most rewarding things I have ever done. The experiences we have had are forever rewarding. We thank you for what you do. Your support system is amazing!

Interested in learning more about Portland Community College - Rock Creek's chapter? Check them out here and on Facebook.