MIAMI (WSVN) – A local organization is helping feed a need across South Florida by reducing and reusing restaurant leftovers.<\/p>\n
On Friday mornings at Greater Bethel AME Church in Miami\u2019s Overtown section, Nourish Miami has made sure nobody leaves hungry.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve turned the church into a community gathering spot for what some call the best breakfast in Miami.<\/p>\n
The organization uses restaurant leftovers to help the feed the hungry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we do is, we recover some of that food and we repurpose it for meals, for those people who are food insecure,\u201d said Nourish Miami Co-Founder Adam Snitzer. \u201cWe serve the neighborhoods of Overtown, Allapattah, Brownsville, Little Haiti and Liberty City.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nourish Miami serves up a wide array of food items, from potatoes from Fleming\u2019s Steakhouse to pancakes and sausage from the Turnberry Isle Country Club.<\/p>\n
They even have shrimp, onions and peppers from CookUnity, a meal delivery service.<\/p>\n
Those are just some of foods that could have ended up in a landfill.<\/p>\n
Instead, now they are given to those who need it the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe reach 1,500 people a week with individual meals, and we distribute 200 grocery bags a week,\u201d said Nourish Miami Co-Founder John Barker.<\/p>\n
Barker and Snitzer said nearly one in three residents in Miami experiences food insecurity, so the need is urgent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of generosity in the Miami hospitality industry and a lot of abundance. You know, the mission of Nourish Miami is to share Miami\u2019s abundance,\u201d said Barker.<\/p>\n
The effort takes some time, and they prep the food in advance nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, I\u2019m going to take rice from CookUnity, and I\u2019ll grab some chicken from Turnberry Country Club, then I\u2019ll come back here, grab some steamed broccoli from CookUnity, and there I have a delicious, nutritionally balanced chicken meal that will be distributed,\u201d said Snitzer.<\/p>\n
It then heads to Overtown, where it\u2019s served to many hungry people.<\/p>\n
Nourish Miami believes that every person who walks through one of their distribution sites deserves to be treated the same way South Florida\u2019s finest restaurants treat their guests, with a warm welcome, quality food, genuine choice and the dignity of being seen as someone worth serving well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thank God for it, because I\u2019m so happy to be here. I feel a lot of love here, it\u2019s been great,\u201d said a man. \u201cActions speak louder than words. I mean, you can see the love here; the gathering, it\u2019s just beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n