This guest blog was submitted by Jason Allen Mata. Nutrition Supervisor at the Boys and Girls Club-Alaska, and member of the AFPC Food Waste Committee
"There are a couple of businesses that regularly donate to Boys and Girls Club Alaska, BGCA. We work with an organization, the Food Donation Connection, who manages food donation programs for food service companies interested in donating food. They connect those companies with organizations to receive donations. The clubs here in Anchorage are currently receiving donations from Starbucks, Olive Garden, and Great Harvest Bread.
We receive about 90 pounds of assorted pastries and sandwiches from two Starbucks locations in Anchorage weekly. Olive Garden donates up to 60 pounds of soups, pasta sauces, and pasta weekly. Finally, Great Harvest Bread donates 100 to 120 pounds of their wonderful bread. We also receive milk from the Starbucks in Eagle River for the clubs in Anchorage and Eagle River. I'm currently working with Food Donation Connection to get our Fairbanks club on the same page and start receiving donations for companies in Fairbanks.
Pretty much the entirety of the donations is used, though there are certain products, like desserts, I can't use in the program. We mostly utilize the donations for snacks at the club or extra food a child may need at home. The children we feed with these donations are really grateful for having something they can count on.
Get Involved! One way an individual can get involved is by visiting us at BGCAlaska.org and learn about how we help youth by giving them a safe place to have fun and grow up to be leaders in their community. Currently, we don't have a whole lot of space for food donations from individuals in the community, so sharing what you learn from our website and social media pages with others helps a lot.”
