What will you do with the food that is leftover from your wedding reception?

What will you do with the food that is leftover from your wedding reception? Did you know that almost 50,000 children go to bed hungry each night in Maricopa County alone? Did you know that here in the Phoenix area there is a great agency that will collect your leftovers and deliver them to your choice of over 80 local agencies that feed the hungry?

That organization is called Waste Not. Their vision is for a community where wasted food is a thing of the past and no request for food goes unanswered. Waste Not feeds thousands of hungry people every day, delivering on average, 5,000 pounds of donated food to the agencies that disperse it. I was so excited when I first heard about this! I was coordinating a wedding reception for Kirsten and Ron Carter who I knew would share my enthusiasm for helping others in this way. I spoke with their caterer, Karen, of Just Great Food, who was already aware of Waste Not and who kindly agreed to take their leftovers back to her commercial kitchen for refrigeration until Monday morning when they would be picked up. I know that Kirsten and Ron felt good about their donation and I felt great for suggesting it! I believe that wedding planners and bridal couples would embrace this idea if they knew about their options to donate.

Here are the criteria for food donations as outlined on the website www.wastenotaz.com;

1. You must have enough food to feed 20-25 people, in order to curb truck expenses.

2. Give Waste Not as much advance notice as possible. Your wedding planner can call them to arrange pick-up. If you are not working with a planner, ask your caterer if they would handle it. All pick-ups are made in the morning, with deliveries scheduled in the afternoon. Waste Not does not warehouse food; they deliver it the same day it is received.

3. If you are having an evening function, especially a Saturday evening wedding, arrange for refrigeration of the food until Monday morning, when it will be collected.

The person to contact is Judy Rydberg, Director of Field Operations at 602-721-3454.

Your wedding day is full of beauty and happiness, knowing that you are also helping the hungry in our area just makes it all the more beautiful!