Amanda

Amanda enjoys spending time with her family, grandchildren, and reading. But when she's not doing those activities, she works almost daily as a food rescuer with her friend, who is a retired professor at Wentworth. Amanda has been doing this for close to 12–13 years now. She's done drop-offs for 10 years at the Cape and around 3 years in Boston. Each morning at 5:30-6:30 am, Amanda wakes up to go to restaurants, bakeries, or the Fenway stadium to pick up leftovers from the day before. Since she works with a receiving agency that expects items at a certain time, she tries to map out her day to drop off the items at different nonprofits. She has graciously dropped off hotdogs at the Mission before.

In addition to donating to nonprofits, some of her pickups go to community refrigerators. Weekend food drives are the busiest for her. On average, Amanda works 10-12 hours long days. She is truly passionate about doing her part to make our world a better place to live in.

What motivates you to work as a food rescuer?
"I look to bring immediate relief to people who are suffering."

Amanda's network grows through her pickups. Sometimes, new places would call to ask if she wanted their leftovers.

"People want to donate food. Bakeries and cafes just fill their boxes with food. Clients would just open them up and pick what they want."

What changes do you believe would make the world a better place?
"If everyone had adequate shelter, food, supplies, and improved physical and mental health, the world would be a better place."

Even outside of food rescuing, Amanda spends time through activities like the food pantry, and putting together donation bags, and care packages at libraries. When it comes to our community, Amanda is ready to lend a hand anytime! Thank you for caring for our neighbors at the Mission and in Boston!