Food that might otherwise end up in a South Florida landfill is instead helping feed thousands of people across Miami.
Nourish Miami collects leftover food from local restaurants, country clubs and meal services and turns it into meals for people experiencing food insecurity.
Every Friday morning, Greater Bethel AME Church in Overtown becomes one of their community gathering spots, serving meals made with food recovered from places like Fleming’s Steakhouse, Turnberry Isle Country Club and CookUnity.
And this isn’t just a few leftovers here and there. Nourish Miami says it reaches around 1,500 people every week with individual meals and distributes another 200 grocery bags.
The organization serves communities including Overtown, Allapattah, Brownsville, Little Haiti and Liberty City.
The goal isn’t simply to hand someone food, either. Nourish Miami says it wants people visiting its distribution sites to receive the same warm welcome, quality food and choices they’d expect if they were guests at one of South Florida’s restaurants.
It’s a pretty great idea: take food that could’ve been thrown away and get it onto the table of someone who actually needs it.
For anyone who wants to help, Nourish Miami accepts donations to help cover the costs of picking up and delivering the meals.