Locally Featured: Lovin' Spoonfuls

Photo Credit- Lovin' Spoonfuls

It doesn't go unnoticed- I know that I am blessed.  I am able to head to the grocery store each week and stock up on what I have deemed are "necessities" and even splurge on some luxury items.  I do not take this for granted.  Living in the city of Boston, and having spent a fair amount of time in my past volunteering in shelters, I am well aware that there are many people out there who are not as fortunate, and who need assistance.  For this week's Locally Featured segment, I am honored to bring you the news about a Boston area resident to took the bull by the horns and decided to help out in a big way.  Ashley Stanley began Lovin' Spoonfuls as a way to get delicious fruits and vegetables to the people of this city who may not have access to them otherwise. 

Photo Credit- Lovin' Spoonfuls

Created just six and a half short months ago, Lovin' Spoonfuls has just one mission- that with the amount of food that we have on this earth -it is not acceptable that anyone should go hungry.  Ashley holds that the problem really is in the mechanics of the distribution, and is now doing everything she can to fix it.  She is doing this by rescuing food from area grocery stores that has been picked over by the public, and bringing it to crisis centers and shelters.  The benefit here, of course, is two fold.  Thousands of pounds of food is rescued from a pointless demise of becoming trash, and the recipients enjoy more nutritious fresh produce.

Currently Lovin' Spoonfuls is moving about 1,000 pounds of produce from grocers to shelters a week- quite a haul for a young company.  It may seem cliche, but I love that Ashley still sees every delivery as her greatest success stories.  I can't blame her.  The network she has built is nothing short of incredible.  Every person involved has the same wonderful goal in mind, to ensure that every person gets enough to eat, and has their fill on nutritious and fresh food.  To support this idea, Lovin' Spoonfuls will actually get calls from recipients of the food donations if they are unable to use the full bounty-thus making it available for others in need to have access to.  

Photo Credit- Lovin' Spoonfuls

Of course running an organization like this is not without it's challenges.  There are times when Lovin' Spoonfuls will reach out to a business to ask for donations of their unwanted products and will be turned down.  Oddly enough there are some corporations who somehow find it easier for them to throw out these items than to donate them.  Of course, their second big challenge is, of course the cost of bringing these great fruits and vegetables from the store to the shelters.  They are always looking for assistance both from the public (tax deductible, and pay pal accepted at http://www.lovinspoonfulsinc.org/), as well as from suppliers in the area.  Any baker, grocer, restaurant, etc in the area who is looking for ways to get their products that cannot be sold into the hands of grateful people is welcome to contact Lovin' Spoonfuls to obtain their donation criteria. We are all also encouraged to help Lovin' Spoonfuls fill a truck with great foods on October 16, World Hunger Day, at Whole Foods Legacy place, details also on their website.

No matter what you can do to help, Lovin' Spoonfuls is in our city, helping to solve a problem that should never have existed in the first place.  Those fruits and veggies that maybe have a little bruise, or are shaped a little differently- those are fruits and vegetables with the same great nutrients and value as the more perfect one's that we all lunge for.  It is a crime if those items go to waste, and I commend Ashley for creating such a fantastic organization.  I can only imagine the tremendous amount of good that you are doing for so many in our city.

Anyone else think that Lovin' Spoonfuls might be a great match for Treat Cupcake Bar's Treat Others Well campaign?