SoWashCo Schools Donates 10,000 Pounds of Food to Local Food Shelf

South Washington County Schools (SoWashCo Schools) has donated more than 10,000 pounds of food to the local food shelf, Basic Needs, since the beginning of the school year. 

It’s all part of the Food Rescue Program, a partnership between SoWashCo Schools and Basic Needs. Students who have unwanted and uneaten packaged food are encouraged to place the item on the donation shelf. Each week, volunteers collect the food donations at the schools and deliver them to Basic Needs. The food is then made available to anyone in the community who needs it.

The pilot program started at five schools at the beginning of the school year and has now grown to 20 of our 23 schools that serve meals twice daily. 

Wendy Peterson, SoWashCo Schools Director of Student Nutrition, plans to expand the Food Rescue program to all SoWashCo Schools by the end of the school year.

“I’m so glad to be part of this partnership where food that would otherwise end up in a landfill is instead going to people who need it and will eat it,” said Peterson, “Even before ‘free meals’ was enacted in Minnesota, we had a lot of food waste in our schools. Now, if a student doesn’t want a food item that is eligible to donate, they can place it on the donation shelf and that item will go to someone who does want it.”

The volunteers at Basic Needs sort the food, and just as quickly as it is dropped off, it hits the shelves and is available for anyone who visits the food market to take. 

“What I love most about this partnership is that it came from the school district itself and they were so passionate about not wanting to simply just throw away this food. They wanted to give it a second life and they wanted to make sure that it got out into the community to the people that really need it,” said Opey Peñaloge.  It’s opened us up to serve the community in a whole new way.”

Basic Needs is available to anyone in the community and there are no income requirements to shop at the food market. They are also looking for volunteers, whether that’s someone looking to do it long-term or a group or individual that just wants to help out for a couple of hours for a day. You can learn more at basicneedsmn.org/volunteer.