Celebrating Ten Years by Giving Back
Recently, I had the opportunity to ride along as a volunteer on a Food Rescue truck with Program Manager Taylor Moore. That day alone we rescued 3,100 lbs of food from places such as Costco, Sam's, Walmart, Lucky's, Target and Old Mission Multigrain Bakery. I was surprised, but impressed, that 90%+ of the food that was rescued was the type of food that we typically buy in the grocery—healthy and nutritious fruits, vegetables, bread, frozen meats, etc. The generosity of these big box food retailers is awesome. And I could see that most of the employees we dealt with appreciate that this food can be put to good use.
The entire truck was full by 10 am! So we set off to start dropping food, same day, by the pallet to the pantries—the Goodwill Inn kitchen, Salvation Army off Barlow, Christ Bible Pantry, Acme Christian Thrift Store & Food Pantry out in Williamsburg, and finally Kalkaska Area Interfaith Resources.
As I saw the volunteers rush out to meet the truck as we pulled up it struck me the significance of rescuing good food and quickly getting it to the pantries who serve those in need. How did this work before Food Rescue? It didn't. So thanks to the Food Rescue founders, the staff and drivers, the volunteers and this generous community we live in, IT NOW FUNCTIONS VERY WELL!
And so Fustini's is extremely proud to be able to contribute to Food Rescue to help offset their most significant costs—fuel, maintenance and payroll for the drivers. Please help us support Food Rescue by purchasing Fustini's—starting this Friday we are donating $1 for every bottle sold, which covers Food Rescue's cost to rescue and distribute 4 lbs of food.
Thank you Traverse City for this first Delicious Decade!
--Jim, Fustini's owner/founder