Celebrating Parnerships with #FRN5Years Interviews

The relationship between student leaders, hunger-fighting nonprofit partners and dining providers is the foundation for the work that FRN chapters do. No matter the amount of food recovered or the size of the team, great relationships ensures that all FRN chapters are thoughtful members of the communities we serve. Over the course of this semester, we will be taking an in-depth look at how some of the relationships have evolved over time and remained so strong. 

The first three of the #FRN5Years interviews will profile chapters at Goucher College, Carleton College and The University of Denver. Follow along over at our #FRN5Years page!

Q&A with the OCC Food Riders, Part 1

On Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons, while many students at Orange Coast College are in class or planning for the weekend, a cohort of student leaders are preparing for their weekly food recovery rides. For seven years, the OCC Food Riders have become a fixture in Costa Mesa, California by delivering surplus food from the cafeteria on campus, to local nonprofit partners by bicycle. They load up trailers with food, both perishable and nonperishable, attach them to the back of their bicycles, and make the 3.5-mile trip to their nonprofit partners Share Our Selves and the Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene.

Orange Coast College is a two-year community college, and is where the Food Riders first started their journey, and still continues to be their homebase. Each semester, about a dozen Food Riders, who typically stick with the program for at least two semesters before they transfer out to university, embark on the route which they have made over 550 times.

Over e-mail, I spoke with Carl Morgan, founder and permanent faculty advisor of the Food Riders, as well as Roy Duvall, safety officer and treasurer. Carl and Roy discuss how the group came together, how they serve the Costa Mesa community and the keys to remaining a successful organization, which they hope to spread all over the country.

This is the first half of a two-part interview. 

Awesome trailer pull up the hill this morning through the roadwork.

See this Instagram video by @occ_food_riders * 58 likes

Q: Describe OFFCR's (OCC Food Riders) overall mission and how it fulfills the needs of your community.

ROY: Our mission is to reduce food waste and community hunger by recovering and redirecting quality perishable foods from the OCC Cafeteria. This single-focus mission reduces local landfill volumes, reduces Orange Coast College's pollution footprint, gets local and international students exposed to sustainability at the zip code level. Bicycles are part of our operation, but not part of our mission.

For me, it is simple. Here is some good food. There are some hungry people. I have a bike and trailer.

Was it a challenge to get OCC and the nonprofit partners on board?

CARL: We became an official student club at OCC in January of 2010. However, we did a lot of the preliminary work during the fall of 2009. I approached an OCC student (Joseph Vu) about the idea of using bicycles to transport food donations to a local food pantry, but we did not have a source of food other than small amounts of non-perishable food that Joseph and I could donate ourselves. We spoke with the OCC Food Services Manager, Thomas Selzer, about delivering excess food from the cafeteria, and he was immediately enthusiastic about the idea.

After we established this food source, we approached Share Our Selves (SOS), a local food pantry, to ask if they could use the kinds of perishable foods that would likely come from the cafeteria. Although we were unsure about how much food we would receive from the cafeteria, SOS was very happy to receive the donations. Both OCC Food Services and SOS were on board immediately. We just needed to ask.

How has the program changed since it was first started. How did it grow from a handful of volunteers into an organization that continues to donate hundreds of pounds each month?

CARL: When we first approached the cafeteria and SOS, our expectations were very minimal. In fact, we planned to deliver food from the cafeteria once per month using a small bike trailer with an ice chest that could accommodate up to 50 pounds of food. Our first delivery from the cafeteria was an eye opener: there was a lot more excess food than we realized. We knew immediately that we would need a bigger bike trailer and larger coolers. Also, we knew that our "once a month" plan would quickly become once a week, and within the first six months we started delivering food twice per week.

As more students found out about the Food Riders through word of mouth, the club grew gradually. We received more attention when our student newspaper published an article about us.

Our growth has been slow but steady over the past seven years. Roy's contributions to the club with the Food Riders Handbook, conference participation and FRN involvement has really taken us to a whole new level!

OCC Food Riders 2014-16 president Yousuf Elgohary hauled a 320 pound trailer load of peanut butter, canned tuna and beans up the hill to the SOS food pantry.

Tell me about your team. Are there Food Riders that had never heard of food recovery until they found you?

ROY: Yes, there are many first-time Food Riders that knew nothing about Food Recovery-- the majority, actually. Some international students have been stunned and pleased to join us. The stunned part is because a few of them have similar systems in their native countries, but are surprised to find it in a developed, modern country.

Some students participate in one-three recoveries, or one  full semester, as part of their college experience, and move on to something else that also benefits their scholarship and transfer applications. Many will participate once weekly for two-three semesters before transferring to a university.

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Stay tuned for part two!

FRN Announces 200 Chapters!

Yesterday, we announced a huge milestone for FRN via Facebook Live! Brandon, Program & Communications Fellow, and Emily, Data & Program Support VISTA, approved CHIPs (what we like to call our chapters-in-progress) Shawnee State University and  University of Tampa, bringing our total number of chapters to 200. We are so excited to have them in the FRN family, and appreciate the work that our chapters are doing all over the country!

University of Tampa FRN.

FRN Welcomes Kelly Moler and Claire Clummings to the Board of Directors!

We are excited to announce two new additions to our esteemed Board of Directors: Kelly Moler, CFO of MOM’s Organic Market, and Claire Cummings, the first-ever Wastes Program Manager for Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO). For Regina, these additions havecome at a perfect time. “FRN has moved from a startup student club to a nationally recognized leader in the food recovery space,” she says. “Our board is evolving to meet the higher demands of FRN within the food recovery space and the expertise of Kelly and Claire support FRN’s leadership and voice within the growing efforts of recovery.” 

Read the press release here!

Food Recovery, Personal Recovery, and Communal Healing: An Interview with Lisa Willmes, Recovery Café San Jose

Back in 2014, I spent a summer volunteering with a nonprofit that was just opening in my town: Recovery Café San Jose. Recovery Café operated unlike any meal program or shelter I had encountered before; it linked the recovery of food with the recovery of individuals, families and communities. Over tables of hot, healthy food donated from local restaurants, members and volunteers engaged in conversations that led to friendships, trust and healing.

In this café, food created a reason for a very diverse group of people to gather in the same room; the simple act of eating together initiated meaningful journeys with material and social benefits. My experience at the Recovery Café instilled a sense of wonder about the healing impacts of well-distributed food on individuals, communities, and the environment.  

Nearly three years later, Recovery Café San Jose continues to serve food and coffee to people in recovery from traumas such as homelessness, addiction, incarceration, and mental illness. In this interview, I reconnect with café Manager Lisa Willmes and learn more about how Recovery Café operates, what makes the model special, and how it plans to expand.

Gaby: Describe Recovery Café’s overall vision and its context in San Jose, CA. What community needs does RCSJ fill?

Lisa Willmes: Recovery Café San Jose is a healing community for those traumatized by addiction, homelessness, and mental health challenges. While many other programs maintain long waiting lists, or offer services for a limited time, RCSJ is always immediately welcoming and available for long term. RCSJ offers hot meals 4 days a week, weekly Recovery Circles, classes and workshops to learn job and life skills, group activities to build social skills and inner strength, connections to resources and partner agencies as well as relapse prevention.

Gaby: When I last visited RCSJ a few years ago, the organization was just getting started. You provided a few community meals per week, as well as Recovery Circles (peer to peer support groups) and optional group activities. What does your program look like now?

Lisa Willmes: In addition to our meals and Recovery Circles RCSJ offers a robust selection of classes through our School for Recovery. SFR is an 8 week session of classes focusing on four main areas: Addiction and Recovery, Life Skills, Health and Wellness, and Arts and Creativity. Members who complete at least one class for the full 8 weeks are recognized at the end of the session during our awards ceremony receiving a certificate of completion and gift card.

Gaby: Describe your meal program. Where do you get the food that you serve, and how do members serve and eat the food? What role(s) do food and food recovery play in the Recovery café model?

Lisa Willmes: RCSJ offers meals Tuesday - Friday with lunch being offered daily and dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We receive 3 meals from local non profit, Loaves and Fishes, and 3 meals we prepare in house. Our Chef - along with trusted volunteers and members - creates healthy dishes using produce and other ingredients provided by Second Harvest Food Bank, Veggielution and Fresh Approach. Members help serve lunch and dinner through our buffet line.

Gaby: What are your future goals for Recovery café San Jose, and for Recovery cafés in general? What current challenges and needs do you face?

Lisa Willmes: 2017 is a big year for RCSJ! In March RCSJ will temporarily relocate to a local church as our building begins renovation. The renovation will consist of getting a new state-of-the-art kitchen where we will run culinary classes, an espresso bar where members will learn the barista trade, a new art room, and a computer lab. We plan to be back in our new facility by September. We will reopen to preparing 10 meals in house and being open 5 days a week (Tuesday - Saturday). Once in our new facility we hope to grow our numbers and offer more classes to members. We currently have 100 members and offer 10 Recovery Circles plus classes in our School for Recovery.

RCSJ is proud to provide delicious and nutritious meals to our members, but it can be challenging to secure the dairy and meat proteins we need to serve a balanced meal. We are grateful to our food providers, but are always looking for new donation partners!

Gaby: How can others be involved in Recovery Café’s efforts? Can this model be replicated in different locations? Can students, particularly those in Food Recovery Network chapters, be involved?

Lisa Willmes: RCSJ is based off of the Recovery Café model that began in Seattle almost 15 years ago. Since we have been open (2 1/2 years) there have been other Recovery Cafés popping up along the west coast and more folks are showing interest across the nation. We gladly accept student volunteers and generally have between 2-5 per semester working in the kitchen preparing meals. I am always interested in meeting with folks in the community and would be grateful of Food Recovery Network students being involved with RCSJ.  Currently we have 25 active volunteers who help with meal preparation, facilitate Recovery Circles and run classes.

Follow Recovery Cafe San Jose on Facebook!