The SHARE (Stop Hunger And Restore Earth) pilot program has been rolled out to all 8 elementary schools with remarkable success! For those who don’t know, the SHARE program is a food recovery program designed by Toward Zero Waste with Wake County Public School System to capture leftovers from cafeteria meals and feed students, rather than landfills. Students can leave and/or take approved unwanted and unopened foods during breakfast and lunch. A pantry cart and fridge for leftovers live in a central location for accessing throughout the week. 

Megan Holler (Director for Food Recovery and Compost) is the program’s creator and has been working tirelessly to get the program going for over a year now, with support from key volunteers at TZW and a handful of community partners.  I have been volunteering in various schools for the rollout and I can tell you firsthand the impact this program is having. The response from the school staff has been incredibly positive. I’ve heard “We’ve wanted a program like this forever!” more times that I can count. The administrative staff, Instructional Assistants who help the students during lunch, and cafeteria staff are so supportive, and all hate to see the huge amount of food waste from the school meals.

But the best response to the program I’ve seen is from the students. The kids picked up on the idea immediately. I’ve seen hungry children, with very little packed in their lunchboxes, fill their bellies with fresh apple slices. I’ve seen kids who missed breakfast get to grab a juice and a pack of carrots and protein packed hummus. The school staff told me one day that hungry kids who were waiting on late rides after school were able to snack on fresh bananas. This is what TZW started the program for and it’s working. Food recovery in schools is not a novel idea, but it’s an area where the school district needed support in order to implement a program like SHARE, and we at TZW have been so happy to step in and work to fill that gap.

The idea of this program has caught on quickly. We’ve been featured in the local news and on a local radio show, and other Wake County schools are asking to be added. We’ve even had other NC Counties contact us, asking us to bring the program to them. TZW plans to try and expand the program as fast as we can! The Lonnie & Carol Poole Family Foundation, and a few other local donors, are generously funding this program and without their support, this program wouldn’t be possible. 

If you are interested in learning more or volunteering with about the SHARE program please click HERE. New volunteers will have a brief orientation at the school they are helping in before they start. If you would like to donate to the program, please click HERE and write “SHARE” in the dedication box.