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Date April 29, 2025
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Brown students rescue campus food to serve neighbors in need

For more than 15 years, Brown’s Food Recovery Network has redirected thousands of pounds of surplus food to support local soup kitchens, shelters and community food pantries, while diverting landfill waste.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Every afternoon at 4 p.m., the Providence Rescue Mission opens its doors on Cranston Street in Providence’s West End to offer hundreds of Rhode Islanders a warm, hearty meal — and for those experiencing homelessness, a safe place to spend the night.

The organization also serves breakfast and lunch and distributes thousands of food boxes each week, filled with grocery staples to help residents and families prepare meals at home.

Most of the food — enough for 1,500 meals each week — is donated by local restaurants, businesses and schools, including Brown University, according to Sean Carew, executive director of the faith-based organization. 

“Each time we get a donation from Brown, it’s often enough to serve a full sit-down meal to our community — or close to it,” Carew said. “Instead of letting it go to waste, we repurpose it and put it to good use.”

Brown’s donations are led by the Food Recovery Network, a student organization that partners with Brown Dining Services to reduce waste by collecting surplus food from campus dining halls and redirecting it to local nonprofits like the Providence Rescue Mission, churches and community organizations. 

Providence residents line up for a dinner at a local community organization
With support from local organizations and schools, the Providence Rescue Mission serves three daily meals to hundreds of community members. Courtesy Providence Rescue Mission.

Each academic year, Brown’s Food Recovery Network recovers roughly 15,000 pounds of food. Most donations include items that are safe to store and transport, like bread-based goods including bagels, muffins and rolls, and fresh produce like apples, bananas and other whole fruits and vegetables.

Carew said the Mission coordinates deliveries from Brown multiple times a week, and the food supplements the organization’s daily meals.

“It’s not just about food — it’s about dignity,” Carew said. “It’s about giving people quality food they can feel good about — food they’re proud to serve their kids.”

Locally-sourced, fresh, high-quality foods are a hallmark of Brown’s dining program, and by redirecting surplus food, the University advances its mission to serve the community, said George Barboza, vice president of dining programs. 

"Brown is an anchor institution in Providence,” Barboza said. “And I think it behooves us to be a good community partner — to show up consistently, listen to what our community partners need and collaborate in ways that make a meaningful, lasting impact."

From campus kitchens to community tables

Established in 2009 by four Brown undergraduates, the Food Recovery Network is one of the longer-running student-led service initiatives on campus. The group is part of a national student-run nonprofit founded at the University of Maryland, which now includes more than 200 chapters at colleges and universities across the country — Brown’s being one of the earliest.

For current Brown undergraduate Ayla Kim, it’s not just the mission that’s sustained the group for over a decade — it’s the students behind it. Kim, a behavioral decision sciences concentrator from New Jersey, joined during her first year as a volunteer driver, motivated by witnessing food insecurity in her home community. She now serves on the executive board.  

“Students here at Brown come with not only intellectual talent, but a real desire to apply it to social causes — you see that in so many student organizations on campus,” Kim said. “I honestly credit the admissions office for bringing such thoughtful, driven people together on this campus who genuinely want to make a difference. That mindset is what I think has kept the Food Recovery Network strong over the years.”

Brown students gather donations to be transported to local nonprofits
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Students retrieve surplus food from a dedicated refrigerator at the Sharpe Refectory to deliver to local nonprofits. Each academic year, Brown’s Food Recovery Network recovers approximately 15,000 pounds of food across campus.

Brown students pack donations into car
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Student volunteers transport recovered food by foot or car to local nonprofits. In addition to the Providence Rescue Mission, Brown’s Food Recovery Network supports Mathewson Street United Methodist, Saint Stephen’s Church, Riverside Congregational Church, Sunrise Forever, the Elisha Project in Pawtucket, and other organizations.

Brown students deliver donations to volunteers at nearby community organizations
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The Providence Rescue Mission serves roughly 1,500 meals a week. Most of that food is donated by local restaurants, businesses and schools, including Brown University.

Brown students deliver boxes of donations
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Most donations from Brown include items that are safe to store and transport, like bread-based goods including bagels, muffins and rolls, and fresh produce like apples, bananas and other whole fruits and vegetables.

Sean Carew stands with Brown student volunteers
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“What’s really wonderful is seeing these young Brown students from all over the world take the time to care. They’re not doing this because they have to. They do it because it matters to them," Providence Rescue Mission Founder Sean Carew (center) said.

To date, the network has recovered more than 125,000 pounds of food from Brown’s campus dining halls and cafés. That effort is powered by an average of 40 student volunteers each year, who work daily in shifts to collect surplus food and deliver it to local community partners. Brown Dining Services staff play a key role in the process, setting aside and packaging leftover baked goods and produce from campus locations including the Sharpe Refectory, the Blue Room and the café inside the Engineering Research Center. Each week, student volunteers also pick up excess produce from Brown Market Shares, a campus-based food distribution program.

In addition to the Providence Rescue Mission, the Food Recovery Network supports the Mathewson Street United Methodist, Saint Stephen’s Church, Riverside Congregational Church, Sunrise Forever, the Pawtucket-based Elisha Project and other organizations.

Some shifts involve walking food to the group’s central storage site — a dedicated refrigerator provided by Dining Services at the Sharpe Refectory — before transporting it by car or on foot. Other shifts include direct drop-offs at nearby soup kitchens, such as the Epiphany Soup Kitchen at Saint Stephen’s on George Street. Volunteers also weigh and track each donation in shared spreadsheets to maintain organized records of food recovered and distributed.

Volunteers stock tables at Brown Market Shares
Each week, student volunteers collect surplus fruits and vegetables from Brown Market Shares, a campus-based food distribution program.

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s 2024 Hunger in Rhode Island report found that rising costs for rent, utilities, transportation, childcare and health care have left many low- and moderate-income households struggling to afford food. In 2024, 38% of Rhode Island households were food insecure, with even higher rates among communities of color.

Carew, who founded the Providence Rescue Mission with his wife more than two decades ago, said they meet countless individuals and families with nowhere else to turn for a meal. But by bringing together dedicated college students, residents and community organizations eager to help, the Mission makes a meaningful impact, one meal at a time. 

“Because we’re privately funded, it would be impossible for us to buy enough food to serve three meals a day — we just couldn’t afford it,” Carew said. “But when everyone contributes, it adds up. It’s not about big donations — we’ll gladly take a single bag of bread or five pounds of potatoes. Enough small donations from individuals, restaurants or churches, and suddenly we have 500 pounds of food. That’s how we sustain our operation.”

Fighting food insecurity and climate change

For Brown students, the Food Recovery Network is about more than reducing food insecurity — it’s a hands-on effort to advance environmental and community health.

“When food ends up in a landfill, it doesn’t just go to waste — it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions,” Kim said. “The larger the landfill, the more carbon dioxide and methane are released into the atmosphere. So by recovering leftover food, we’re not only fighting food insecurity, we’re also helping to combat climate change.”

To minimize food waste, Brown Dining Services orders conservatively, according to Barboza. And since 2016, Dining Services has partnered with Brown’s Office of Sustainability and Resiliency to launch composting at the five campus eateries. In collaboration with ReMix Organics Company, food scraps are turned into compost for local farms and gardens. Through this effort, Brown can divert up to 87% — or 460 tons — of its organic waste from landfills each year.

For community partners like the Providence Rescue Mission, the impact of Brown’s food recovery efforts go far beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions — it advances connections and consistent care.

“What’s really wonderful is seeing these young Brown students from all over the world take the time to care,” Carew said. “They’re not doing this because they have to. They do it because it matters to them. It’s not about checking a box — it’s about making sure people don’t go hungry. That kind of compassion, especially at such a young age, is inspiring. These students are our future leaders, and they’re already deeply committed to helping others.”

Tags
Brown and Providence Clubs and Organizations Sustainability

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