The Food Drive
Melrose , Massachusetts, United States
Team Since 10-01-2021
Food Security Project
Lifetime Hours Donated
The Food Drive’s mission is to promote food access, climate action, and food justice. We distribute rescued, surplus, and donated food in our community; divert wholesome food from landfills; and work for change in our food system.
Awards
2021
Gimme Food and Shelter
Events
Neighborhood Food Drive – December
12/10/2022 See PhotosNeighborhood Food Drive – December
December 10, 2022
The Food Drive’s Neighborhood Food Drive Program meets specific requests and fills gaps at local pantries by mobilizing Melrose community members to host targeted food drives in their neighborhoods and/or businesses. In December 2022, the Humanitarian Club at Melrose High School reached out to The Food Drive to host a Christmas Food Drive at Shaw’s Melrose. We provided the details for the holiday wish list from A Servant’s Heart Food Pantry, located just three blocks from the school, and coordinated the schedule for optimum delivery time. The club held the drive outside the store on a chilly Saturday and collected 1500 pounds of nonperishables for the pantry’s Christmas distribution. Together we loaded bag after bag after bag into the pantry, and fully stocked their shelves for the holiday. Afterwards, The Food Drive closed the sustainability loop by picking up unused items and re-distributing them to another local pantry.
December Food Rescues
12/01/2022 - 12/31/2022 See PhotosDecember Food Rescues
December 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022
Why food rescue? The Food Drive passed the milestone of 450,000 total pounds rescued in December, but to us, it’s the little things that matter the most. Like a rescue volunteer bringing her two-year old daughter along so she sees from an early age that good food has no business in landfills. Like how much those treats that she and her mom delivered mean to the school that received them: “Thank you again for the wonderful treats you bring us all year long, it's so appreciated!! You would think each staff member was given a million dollars when they come down to get their donuts. I was just told 'I love the donut fairy!'" The Food Drive is on a mission to connect the right food at the right time to the people who need food…and joy…most.
November Food Rescue
11/01/2022 - 11/30/2022 See PhotosNovember Food Rescue
November 1, 2022 - November 30, 2022
Why food rescue? The weekend after Thanksgiving 2022, The Food Drive rescued and distributed 5000 pounds of food recovered from groceries stores, bakeries, and local events. And it was good food that has no business in a landfill — carts bursting with prepared meals and sandwiches, towers of festive cakes and pies, racks of bread, catering trays with full entrees, and box upon box of beautiful produce and fruit displays. The goal of food rescue is both to keep food out of landfills and to make sure food is going to its “highest and best use” – that is, being eaten by people, according to ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss. At The Food Drive take this a step further and commit the time and care necessary to match food with recipients where it will have the greatest impact within the closest proximity. We delivered a large amount of this post-Thanksgiving bounty to My Brother’s Table in Lynn, Massachusetts, where it went a long way toward the 900 meals that their incredibly dedicated team provides seven days a week. However, the carefully selected boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables that we delivered to the Dwelling Place Soup Kitchen meant just as much to the guests for their dinner service. The Food Drive is on a mission to connect the right food at the right time to the people who need it most.
October Free Meal Distribution and Food Rescue
10/01/2022 - 10/31/2022 See PhotosOctober Free Meal Distribution and Food Rescue
October 1, 2022 - October 31, 2022
In addition to 130 food rescues in October, The Food Drive in Melrose, Massachusetts launched the final phase of its Community Freezer program…weekly distribution! A joint program of First United Methodist Church of Melrose and The Food Drive, the Melrose Community Freezer offers nutritious, balanced frozen meals at no cost for people in the local community experiencing need. Distribution is open to all every Sunday after church from 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM, and each guest chooses three frozen meals from a wide selection. To accompany each meal, guests receive a packet of homemade treats made with love by children and youth at FUMC. Since local food relief services are limited on weekends, the short-term goal of the Sunday distribution is to bridge the gap between the Friday pantry at A Servant’s Heart Food Pantry and the Tuesday pantry at Pantry of Hope, both located in Melrose. The long-term goal of the program is to maintain an inventory of entrees for specific dietary needs, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, low fat, dairy free, and low salt…items that are not always readily available at pantries and soup kitchens. Since its launch in early 2022, the Melrose Community Freezer program has provided over 450 meals, thanks to donations from the Melrose FUMC congregation and volunteer cooks.
September Food Relief and Food Rescue
09/01/2022 - 09/30/2022 See PhotosSeptember Food Relief and Food Rescue
September 1, 2022 - September 30, 2022
September means back to school! In addition to food rescue, The Food Drive provides a weekly volunteer opportunity for students ages 18 – 22 in the Post Graduate program at the Melrose High School Special Education Department. Job coaches focus on building vocational and employment skills with the students from volunteering and work site opportunities, and building community and independent living skills related to navigating the world as individuals transition to adulthood. The Post Grads and their coaches actively participate in many aspects of The Food Drive’s hunger relief and food waste prevention activities. The students rescue and distribute food from grocery stores, collect and deliver items from The Food Drive’s eight local food donation bins, and use donated gift cards to shop for the items that are most needed by our Melrose pantries, filling significant gaps on their shelves. In addition to strengthening their skills and learning about the challenges of hunger and food waste, the students provide a meaningful service in their own community. The Food Drive is thrilled to collaborate with them for this school year! Thanks to the Post Grads and over 150 volunteers, The Food Drive passed the milestones of 400,000 pounds rescued and 1 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions prevented in under two years.
August Food Rescue
08/01/2022 - 08/31/2022 See PhotosAugust Food Rescue
August 1, 2022 - August 31, 2022
In August, The Food Drive continued delivering a rainbow of local produce to our local pantries and low-income housing facilities. With food prices continuing to rise, fresh fruits and vegetables can be prohibitively expensive, and are often in short supply at pantries and soup kitchens. Too often perishable food goes to waste, especially during the bounty of summer. Our food rescue service provides the missing link between food donors and people experiencing need…especially the need for healthy food. Thanks to partnerships with Dick’s Market Garden, Oakdale Farms, the Melrose Farmer’s Market, Farm Direct Co-op, Whole Foods Melrose & Woburn, and Shaw’s Melrose, and over 150 volunteers, The Food Drive carefully matches nutritious rescued food to meet the needs of recipients in our community.
July Food Rescue
07/01/2022 - 07/31/2022 See PhotosJuly Food Rescue
July 1, 2022 - July 31, 2022
July means the start of summer’s bounty, and our favorite time of year. Fresh local healthy food abounds! Each Thursday evening, The Food Drive rescued hundreds of pounds of produce from Dick’s Market Gardens and Oakdale Farm at the Melrose Farmer’s Market and delivered literally one mile to A Servant’s Heart Food Pantry and to Cefalo Retirement Complex for Friday morning distribution. In both locations, pantry guests and low-income residents are able to pick their own items, and had a rainbow of seasonal choices: summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, greens, corn, peaches, berries, herbs, plums and peas. At our downtown food rescue partner, Buckalew’s General Store, The Food Drive’s volunteers collected beautifully prepared summer salads and grain bowls and transported two blocks to Pantry of Hope, where the guest count has increased from 30 to 50 families. And on July 31, it took four cars to transport the rescued fruits and vegetables from our downtown Melrose Whole Foods to Bread of Life in Malden, where demand for food is also on the rise. The Food Drive is on a mission to tackle hunger at the root. Everyone deserves healthy food.
June 2022 Food Rescues
06/01/2022 - 06/30/2022 See PhotosJune 2022 Food Rescues
June 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022
In June, The Food Drive launched into summer mode! This means beautiful early summer produce of course, with the kickoff of rescues from our local farmer’s markets and CSAs. It also means celebrations…The Food Drive recovered hundreds of pounds of food from graduation parties, end-of-school celebrations, and barbecues. It also means getting outdoors…people of all ages on all modes of transport rescuing and delivering food in our community. On scooters and bikes, in cars and vans, and on foot, our dedicated volunteers brought children, parents, pals and even furry friends to keep good food out of landfills and fill the plates of their neighbors instead.
May 2022 Food Rescues
05/01/2022 - 05/31/2022 See PhotosMay 2022 Food Rescues
May 1, 2022 - May 31, 2022
The Food Drive serves 11 communities north of Boston: Everett, Lynn, Malden, Melrose, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield, and Woburn. Our food donors include grocery stores, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, specialty shops, and farms. Recipients include food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, community centers, free meal programs, low-income housing residences, and individuals experiencing need. Our business model is small, local, and flexible so that our food donors directly support recipients in their own neighborhoods. The Food Drive’s rescues in May 2022 are terrific examples of the MANY HANDS that make food rescue happen! Volunteers brought children and grandchildren to help deliver healthy produce to our local food pantries. High school students recovered and delivered hundreds of pounds of prepared meals in communities with poverty rates of 15 to 20%. And neighbors joined together to rescued truckloads of perishable items from Whole Foods. Food is a basic human right, and The Food Drive is on a mission to ensure that everyone in our community has fresh, nutritious food.
April Food Distribution
04/01/2022 - 04/30/2022 See PhotosApril Food Distribution
April 1, 2022 - April 30, 2022
In April 2022, The Food Drive reached the milestone of 300,000 pounds of food distributed – an incredible amount kept out of landfills by a small grassroots nonprofit operating for only 18 months! This number translates to 750,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions prevented, which was an accomplishment we celebrated during Earth Month. It also translates to the $501,000 in value and most importantly, the equivalent of 261,000 meals for our local community. The Food Drive also fully implemented our Community Freezer program, a partnership between Melrose First United Methodist Church and The Food Drive to provide healthy meals for local food pantries, motel shelters, and community members experiencing food insecurity, especially those with immediate needs. As a result, when a motel shelter reached out to us in April because they were running low on food for their guests, The Food Drivee immediately delivered meals for everyone in the shelter. Food is a basic human right, and The Food Drive is on a mission to ensure that everyone in our community has fresh, nutritious food.
March 2022 Food Rescue
03/01/2022 - 03/31/2022 See PhotosMarch 2022 Food Rescue
March 1, 2022 - March 31, 2022
March was another busy month for The Food Drive, since lines were long and shelves and fridges were often empty at the pantries we serve. Our program now has 110 total volunteers, and we’re closing in on 300,000 pounds of food rescued since we started in November 2020. We share our stats every month, but our highest priority at The Food Drive is matching food with people for whom it will have the most impact. This month we rescued bags of sandwiches from Starbucks and muscled MANY boxes of produce from Whole Foods, and every delivery mattered. Those Starbucks sandwiches were a healthy lunch for our neighbors whose fixed incomes that don’t begin to cover escalating grocery prices. Those produce boxes went a long way toward meals for elderly and disabled residents living in low-income housing. The Food Drive is on a mission to direct healthy, viable food from full landfills toward full fridges and fuller plates in our community.
February 2022 Food Rescue
02/01/2022 - 02/28/2022 See PhotosFebruary 2022 Food Rescue
February 1, 2022 - February 28, 2022
February in New England! Our food rescue teams bundled up for subzero wind chills, climbed over snow piles, navigated ice patches, and doubled up on rescues following nor’easters! In the midst of juggled schedules and crazy conditions, The Food Drive rescued just over 19,000 pounds of food this month. Blizzards mean panic shopping followed by overstocked shelves, so our staff and volunteers made use of their well-honed car packing skills to fit hundreds of pounds of food in their vehicles. Winter 2022 also means rising food prices and inflation, so we’re seeing a rising demand for food for all of our recipients as well. The Food Drive distributed food to partners in eleven communities in February, ranging from multiple weekly deliveries for the grocery, dinner, and pantry programs at Bread of Life in Malden to a two-block weekly journey from Buckalew’s General Store to Pantry of Hope in our own town of Melrose.
January 2022 Food Rescue
01/01/2022 - 01/31/2022 See PhotosJanuary 2022 Food Rescue
January 1, 2022 - January 31, 2022
The Food Drive started 2022 with a bang, distributing 17,500 pounds of food in ten communities and continuing our practice of hyperlocal rescue with new donor and recipient pairings. At the request of Food Donation Connection, we added Whole Foods Swampscott as a food donor and matched them with recipient My Brother's Table, a soup kitchen five miles away in Lynn, Massachusetts, where 20% of residents live below the poverty level. We also added a new Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in Malden, which now provides meals for the dinner program at nearby Bread of Life. Sweet Spot Bakery in Melrose also joined us as a donor, and their baked goods will provide dessert for Saturday evenings at the Malden Warming Center. Our volunteers rescued and delivered food alongside us in the midst of the frigid conditions of a New England January...snow, sleet, ice, wind, and bitter cold. Their commitment to recovering good food from landfills and feeding our community instead inspires us every day.
December Food Rescue
12/01/2021 - 12/31/2021 See PhotosDecember Food Rescue
December 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021
The Food Drive ended 2021 with a rescue total of 190,000 pounds, which translates to 103,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions prevented. For the month of December, we distributed over 19,000 pounds of food in 8 communities, including distributions on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. Special holiday deliveries included freshly baked bread from The Bread Shop to the Everett Grace Food Pantry, Christmas cookies and pastries from Sweet Spot Bakery to the Housing Families motel shelter, and our first 1200 pound rescue from a single grocery store to Bread of Life in Malden. We also helped stock the Malden Warming Center with meat, produce, and bread when they opened for the season on December 1.
November Food Rescue
11/01/2021 - 11/30/2021 See PhotosNovember Food Rescue
November 1, 2021 - November 30, 2021
For the month of November 2021, The Food Drive distributed over 23,000 pounds of food in 10 communities. For Thanksgiving, we delivered 205 donated turkeys to the Everett Grace Food Pantry, sponsored a Pie Drive for residents of Caritas Communities low-income housing, delivered full Thanksgiving meals to guests in motel shelters in coordination with our pantry partner Bread of Life, and hosted a two Thanksgiving Pantry Drives for our two Melrose food pantries A Servant’s Heart Food Pantry and Pantry of Hope. Other recipients this month included Housing Families in Malden, Wakefield Food Pantry, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham & Wakefield, Dwelling Place Food Pantry in Woburn, senior housing facilities in Melrose and Malden, and three community dinners in Wakefield.
October Food Rescue
10/01/2021 - 10/31/2021 See PhotosOctober Food Rescue
October 1, 2021 - October 31, 2021
Monthly report of food rescues by The Food Drive. We rescue seven days per week, and our food rescue donors include Buckalew's General Store in Melrose, Dick's Market Garden in Lunenburg, Farm Direct Coop, Melrose Farmer's Market, Oakdale Farms in Rehoboth, Shaw's Melrose, Starbucks Melrose, The Bread Shop in Wakefield, The Farmland in Wakefield, and Whole Foods Melrose and Woburn.
Weekend Food Rescues
09/25/2021 - 09/26/2021 8:15am - 10:30am See DetailsWeekend Food Rescues
September 25, 2021 - September 26, 2021
The Food Drive rescues fresh food from the Whole Foods Markets in Melrose and Woburn, Massachusetts every Saturday and Sunday morning. Volunteers work alongside staff members to weigh and load items, which include fruits and vegetables, prepared foods, bread and bakery, meat, dairy, and pantry staples. Once loaded, volunteers transport food to recipient sites including the Everett Grace Food Pantry (Everett), Caritas Communities subsidized housing residences (Melrose and Wakefield), Bread of Life (Malden), and motel programs housing formerly homeless individuals (Malden and Saugus).