St. Clair Health partners with nonprofit to reduce food waste
St. Clair Health and GROW Living Stones have formed a partnership with the goal of reducing food waste in the South Hills.
GROW has been in operation since 2012, and aims to provide food to South Hills residents in need.
Earlier this year St. Clair Health started an initiative to keep food from going to the landfill. To that end, they are starting recurring food donations to GROW. According to a press release, they donate prepared food that would have otherwise been thrown away.
“Introducing a food donation program will waste less of what St. Clair already produces and enable GROW Living Stones to redistribute it to those in need,” said Emily Guidash, Director of Nutritional Services, CURA Hospitality at St. Clair Health, in the release. “With a food insecurity rate of about 10% in Allegheny County, and food waste making up about 3 to 5% of the hospital’s solid waste production every day, we believe this partnership can make an impact.”
That food will be reheated by GROW volunteers and served to South Hills residents on Sunday afternoons. Leftovers are sent home with residents.
“We have served some 28,000 meals to hundreds of the most vulnerable individuals and families in the South Hills since 2012. Still, there are areas with significant need where we can expand,” said Julie Livingston, Executive Director at GROW Living Stones, in the release. “We are hopeful this ongoing partnership with St. Clair will help us to provide more meals to more people in more communities.”