Food rescue team turns leftovers into meals for people in need
ACADIANA (KLFY) -- While most people in Acadiana are feasting on Thanksgiving leftovers, there's an organization that makes sure people are fed year-round.
It started just this year when one person had the idea not to let the leftover food from Festival International go to waste.
"Particularly, it was a VIP tent where they have extra food at times, and we were able to go ahead and gather a bunch of volunteers. So we got the surplus food, went and got it, they picked it up, brought it to St. Barnabas. Volunteers showed up there, they plated it, labeled it, and then distributed to the community," said Leonardo Meza Juarez.
It was just an idea, but it spread into a grassroots movement.
"Ever since, people were just kind of like, 'Let's do this! Let's keep doing this. Let's go at it,'" he said.
So, Juarez helped to form Feeding Others: Outreach and Distribution (F.O.O.D.) Acadiana.
They "rescue" food from events like festivals and weddings to give back to people who need it.
"All the surplus food would just end up in the landfills causing more harm, why not actually do something good with it and then continue to feed the community and also those people that don't have the resources?" Juarez said.
This Thanksgiving, F.O.O.D. Acadiana partnered with Love of People and donated more than 100 Thanksgiving plates to the community fridges in Lafayette, Maurice and Abbeville.
"What a great way to just end up keeping that food from the landfills, contributing to mother nature, but also contributing to our community by giving back this way," Juarez said.
If you'd like to get involved, head to the F.O.O.D. Acadiana Facebook page.