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The volunteer-driven nonprofit rescues surplus food directly from store shelves and restaurant pantries and distributes it directly to local agencies that serve needy individuals and families.
"We are able to deliver fresh food to people in need, and that's pretty great," said Danbury area community liaison Bruce Winters, a Redding resident leading the drive to find more volunteers to help with food runs in northern Fairfield County. "And people can immediately enjoy it."
This is how Community Plates works: A store, restaurant or other food source donates its surplus food items. A volunteer picks up this food in their own vehicle and delivers it directly to a shelter, pantry or other agency. The food is meant to be consumed that same day.
Donated items can include fresh produce, eggs, milk, poultry, meats, cheeses, juice and various prepared foods that are still good but would end up in dumpsters if not for the group's work.
"There's tons of organizations willing to donate, and tons of need," Winters said. "Community Plates can bring them together."
Of the 4 billion tons of food produced worldwide, more than half goes to waste, he said. Community Plates estimates it has rescued the equivalent of 800,000 meals in the past 18 months.
According to the organization, there are more than 100,000 food-insecure people in Fairfield County alone. More than half of them are ineligible for food stamps.
Community Plates is only one of several organizations in Fairfield County that provides food to people in need. The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County delivers 2 million pounds of food annually that is fresh and in properly refrigerated trucks to the organizations it serves.
Community Plates expanded to Danbury last month when Whole Foods opened. The new market makes regular donations to several agencies in town.
The charity also operates runs in Westport, Norwalk, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Stamford, New Canaan, Wilton and Darien. It receives donations from shops like Trader Joe’s, Fairway Market, Rowayton Seafood, Wave Hill Breads and Whole Foods, and restaurants such as Bartaco, Match, Elm Restaurant, The Brewhouse, Fishtales Seafood Company and Barcelona.
Community Plates created a web application that allows volunteers to sign up for pickups/deliveries. Volunteers may do occasional runs or "adopt" a regular weekly run.
The program was started in 2011 by Jeff Schacher, owner of WhentoManage, a software company, and Kevin Mullins. It operates in Fairfield and New Haven Counties, as well as Albuquerque, N.M., and Columbus, Ohio.
To learn how to volunteer, visit CommunityPlates.org. If in the Danbury and northern Fairfield County area, contact Bruce Winters at bruce_winters@hotmail.com.
The Beer Garden @ Harbor Point,15 Harbor Point Road in Stamford, will host a fundraiser to benefit Community Plates from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 19. For more information about the event, visit this website.
To make a donation to Community Plates, click here.
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