During an internship last summer at the Upper Valley Housing Coalition, a partnership of local businesses and nonprofit groups that advocates for affordable housing, Adam Charnin-Aker ’16 said he realized that the high cost of Upper Valley housing consumes the majority of some residents’ incomes, often leaving little money for food or basic necessities.
After finishing his work at the coalition, Charnin-Aker decided to found a chapter of the Food Recovery Network, a national nonprofit, at the College. The chapter, called Dartmouth Feeding Neighbors, delivers leftover food from the Class of 1953 Commons and several local restaurants to the Upper Valley Haven, which redistributes the food to people living in poverty in the Upper Valley.
“I saw a lot of people who are facing hard times,” he said. “They weren’t homeless people, but they needed to put their wealth toward affordable living and couldn’t necessarily provide for their family.”
The group signed a contract with Dartmouth Dining Services in mid-February and has since worked closely with ’53 Commons staff, Charnin-Aker said. DDS staff members manage the leftover food, following the food safety guidelines of the College. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, members of the organization pick up packaged and refrigerated food from ’53 Commons and local restaurants. After gathering the packages, members drive to the Upper Valley Haven, where volunteers distribute it according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food donation guidelines.
The Food Recovery Network provides advice to college chapters and gives up to $500 in funding each term to help cover expenses like gasoline.
Jeffrey Hastings Tu’90, the president of a West Lebanon motor vehicle supply company, worked with the group since it began.
In February, when Charnin-Aker first approached the Upper Valley Haven to discuss his idea, the Haven connected him with Hastings, who had been seeking to help the Haven and was in the process of reaching out to restaurants in the Upper Valley in an effort to reduce hunger.
Hastings said the organization encourages people to both reduce waste and help those in need. In his role, he helps link the organization and restaurants and researches efficient ways to gather and deliver food.
Sumner Kilmarx ’16, the organization’s vice president, said the group provides a way to give back to the community.
“The Upper Valley community supports Dartmouth so well, and if we can support them in return, I think it’s something that needs to be done because there is a need in this area,” Kilmarx said.
Jordan Kastrinsky ’16, the group’s resource manager, said he joined because he has always been interested in food and sought a way to connect his interest with a way to help others.
Dartmouth Feeding Neighbors, which has about 40 students on its blitz list, currently works with Three Guys Barbecue, Murphy’s on the Green and Dunkin’ Donuts, and is seeing to collaborate with additional campus dining halls and local restaurants, Charnin-Aker said.
