Interview By: Grace Hoening – Former Social Media Coordinator
Written By: Cassidy Blackwell, Social Media Coordinator
Allie Wilson, our Director of Northeast Operations is a loyal food recovery advocate and dedicated team member always looking for ways to expand our work and build partnerships. Allie started as a volunteer with us when we were still MEANS Database but transitioned to a full-time staff member in 2021. In this conversation, she shares meaningful experiences working with Brazilian restaurants in her Jersey Shore community and reflects on her career with FoodRecovery.org.
How did you start working with the Brazilian restaurants in your area?
I was on my way to volunteer with Food Not Bombs and I decided to stop into a newly opened Brazilian restaurant, Emporio Cafe e Restaurante. Interested in finding some good local eats, I sat down and began talking with a few employees. I asked what they typically did with their surplus food at the end of the night. The employee said they did have food at the end of the night that they had to throw out, but they wanted to find a way to donate it instead. Immediately I lit up because I knew we could help with that! Within the next few minutes, I was speaking with the owner of the restaurant and we completed our first recovery with Emporio Cafe e Restaurante in the next few days.
How have these restaurants alongside FoodRecovery.org built partnerships within the community?
Emporio Cafe e Restaurante and Sabor do Brasil are women and immigrant-owned. Each of them built these restaurants from the ground up and now see donating excess food as a way to give back to a community that has given so much to them.
With frequent donations–two drop-offs a day–to food pantries and shelters in Long Branch, Asbury Park, and Bradley Beach, the restaurants and these organizations have become close. At one point, an Emporio Cafe e Restaurante employee personally dropped off a food donation because they enjoyed seeing the impact of giving surplus food. The volunteers at the food pantries have also visited the Brazilian restaurants to try out some delicious food. It’s great seeing these community members who wouldn’t have otherwise interacted build strong ties.
Can you share an impactful moment from working with these restaurants?
One of my favorite memories is a friendship that developed between one of our drivers, Nathy and a volunteer at the Bradley Food Pantry, Shannon. Nathy, who is Brazilian, and Shannon would communicate via Google Translate. Shannon eventually referred to Nathy as her “amiga,” and would give Nathy excess vegan food they had available. Nathy felt so grateful for this friendship, and It was beautiful seeing these two come together.
What has it felt like watching FoodRecovery.org grow to where we are today?
I started volunteering with FoodRecovery.org in 2015 when we were starting out. Seeing how big food recovery as a concept has become is really cool to me. Early on, no one was really talking about recovering surplus food and we frequently had to explain that “yes, you can donate excess food.”
It’s been awesome to see us transform from getting excited over donating a few trays of food to now transporting truck loads and millions of pounds of excess food annually.
What has been a rewarding moment from your time working with FoodRecovery.org?
It’s been very rewarding seeing food donated within my community. Early on I strived to build our presence in New Jersey , but it really wasn’t until we got Emporio Cafe e Restaurante and Sabor do Brasil on board that things started to pick up. It felt like a flip switched and suddenly we were able to grow these relationships into more and more partnerships and donations. Now, I get to work with event venues across the state, the Sea Hear Now festival, produce distributors and farmers markets in Montclair, Haddon Heights, and Holmdel. This goes to show the ripple effect just one donor can have on our organization and their community.