Food Rescue: A Family Affair
Last Mile thrives because of the good work of our amazing Food Rescue Heroes. There is no better feeling than working together with the people you care about towards an altruistic goal. Last Mile is all about just that. Giving back to the community for the simple purpose of making life better for others. And what is a better way to do that than with your family?
Meet Kelly Ritter and her two kids Marshall (3 years old) and Ansley (6 months old). Kelly and her kids joined Last Mile back in April and have since become an avid food rescue team. They are just one of many families who are taking advantage of summer break to spend some quality time with family and go the extra mile to give back to the Cincinnati community.
“We were looking for ways to be involved but it’s hard to get involved in stuff when you have little kids because our time is usually short windows while people are awake and cheerful so Last Mile works really well for us,” says Kelly.
Kelly and her kids have found Last Mile to be a great way to give back to their community while also learning more about Cincinnati through a different lens.
“I think one of my favorite things is that we’re picking up from the Kroger right here in our neighborhood, so it’s been kind of fun! As he actually gets to know the people who work at Kroger and see how grocery store works, it’s kind of like a field trip for him every time we go… It’s cool to just see our community in a different way.”
Phyllis Stocker and her daughter Shannon are another family rescue team. Phyllis and Shannon found Last Mile to be the perfect way to get in those high school volunteer hours. Shannon’s passion for preventing food waste and giving back to the community is an inspiration to all of us at Last Mile! With a full plate of extracurricular activities including archery and track & field, finding time for volunteering was difficult. However, after meeting with her school advisor and explaining how she wanted to work with Last Mile to get her service hours, they worked out an agreement that allowed her to leave school during her lunch period to complete food rescues.
“My school has a lot of service opportunities for other students, and when I told him about Last Mile and what I was doing they were really understanding! I just had to sign out and my mom would come to pick me up and we would go out and pick up a rescue close by. I would usually be back before my next class even started.”
These are just two of our many family rescue teams. If you rescue with your family members, take a photo and tag us at @lastmilefood – we’d love to see your rescues in action! This summer we have been growing at breakneck speeds, and thanks to the amazing work from all of our volunteers, we are able to continue to grow week after week to save even more food for the insecure. Thank you!
Consider grabbing a rescue this summer with your family! If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with Last Mile, check out our page here.