Northern Light EMMC To Begin Donating Leftover Food To Hope House

Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center put out a press release this week detailing their new partnership with Penobscot Community Healthcare's Hope House, to begin donating leftover food from the hospital to help feed folks at Hope House.

Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center prepares over 7000 meals a week for patients, and up to 15,000 a week for employees and guests. Sadly, not all that food gets used up, and speaking from my personal experience in large scale food service, it's just a fact of doing business.

But now, instead of throwing all those leftovers away at the end of the day, they can be brought just up the road to Hope House. They house up to 60 people, and those folks could often use a good hot meal. And really, it seems the perfect solution for all parties involved.

Marc D. Edelman, senior vice president of operations, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center had this to say:

When you’re dealing with the kinds of quantities we see at the Medical Center, there is bound to be excess food at the end of each day. It seemed a shame to toss out perfectly good food when there are people in our community who are hungry. I could not be prouder that our staff put people first and brought this opportunity to senior leadership so we could partner with our colleagues at PCHC and Hope House to feed our homeless citizens.

And Bruce Hews, manager of operations and community affairs at Hope House pretty much echoed the same sentiment.

This is a perfect and natural match of resources with need, and we look forward to working collaboratively with Northern Light Health to serve those who need it most.

Personally, I think this is fantastic. When you're an employee in a kitchen that size, you really become aware that the food you're throwing out, that folks spent hours preparing, will go to good use instead of going in the dumpster. And the fact that local people can be helped out too... It's just a win/win. A job well done to all involved!