One volunteer's bread run in war against hunger
David Schoen is one foot soldier in the fight, which is growing more intense as fuel and food prices rise and the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis is felt.
from the March 6, 2008 edition
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Usually, large trucks drive around the city and pick up cases of fruit and vegetables from supermarkets like D'Agostino and restaurants and bakeries like Amy's Bread. But sometimes, restaurants have only 10 or 15 pounds to donate, and it doesn't make much sense to send a big truck to pick it up, Stephens says.
So, several years ago, City Harvest started its "Street Fleet" operation, which taps corporate volunteers like Schoen. Each enlistee walks 10 to 15 pounds of food that could have gone to waste to a nearby soup kitchen or food pantry.
Currently, 30 corporations in Manhattan participate with about 300 volunteers. City Harvest plans to expand to other boroughs.
"There isn't a pound of food that should go to waste in the city," says Stephens, "because somewhere in the city there's someone who needs it."
One such person is Victoria Watkins. First, she lost her apartment last summer after her boyfriend moved out and she couldn't afford the rent alone. Then, she lost her job because it was difficult keeping a work routine while moving from one shelter to another, she says. Ms. Watkins now drops by the Coalition for the Homeless several times a week looking for help finding a permanent home and a job. And she always looks forward to Schoen's arrival.
"Being the way that it is, a lot of us can't afford breakfast, so the little doughnuts and cupcakes and bagels he brings really help out," she says. "They're a staple in our diet."
That kind of appreciation keeps Schoen, a director at BearingPoint Consultants, ready to help. And he encourages others as well by leading a team of eight Street Fleet volunteers at BearingPoint. Each day, one of them is tasked with picking up the croissants and pastries at two Starbucks near their office and bringing them to the Coalition for the Homeless, which is also just a few blocks away. Schoen likes to do the route himself two or three times a week.
"Particularly if the weather's bad, I'll do it," he said during his walk, the rain stopping long enough for him to close his umbrella. He stopped and looked over at the large construction site on his right. It's ground zero, where the World Trade Center once stood – a constant reminder of why he started volunteering regularly for City Harvest soon after 9/11.
"You never want to forget," he says.
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