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Princeton nonprofit Share My Meals seeks volunteers

Glenn Wright, a Share My Meals volunteer, picks up food for a delivery to hungry families in Princeton.

Share My Meals, a nonprofit organization in Princeton supporting residents who are food insecure, is seeking volunteers to pick up and deliver healthy meals to homes.

The non-profit organization is run by volunteers from the community. The group aims to alleviate hunger and food waste in the Princeton area by working with local restaurants, schools and companies seeking to curb the environmental impact of food waste by providing their excess inventory to people in need.

The Waste Watcher Program is a sustainable meals recovery process approved by the local health department that distributes surplus meals from the cafeterias of local corporations, schools, universities, and restaurants to food-insecure members of the Princeton area community.

During the pandemic, Share My Meals has adapted its operations by purchasing meals from local restaurants for the cost of the goods. Share My Meals has been able to help the food insecure community while allowing the participating restaurants to stay active and to pay some of their staff members.

Glenn Wright has been volunteering with the organization since April. He said he likes how the two ideas for the program were combined — helping people in need who are hungry while also working to reduce food waste.

“There is so much waste, and there are so many people who are hungry. It was a nice combination, a nice convergence of those two ideas.” Wright said. “I’m working from home. I figured I had the time, so why not do it.”

Over the past six months, the organization has been able to deliver more than 25,000 healthy meals directly to the homes of 75 families enrolled in the program because of the financial support and volunteer efforts of Princeton area residents.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about a fifth of Americans fear they won’t be able to pay their rent or mortgage in the coming months. Feeding America expects the food insecure population to increase by 56 percent, or 432,000 residents, in New Jersey in the coming months.

For more information about volunteering with Share My Meals, please fill out a form on the Share My Meals website at https://sharemymeals.org/volunteering-with-us/.