Leftovers With a Purpose

Having to feed hundreds of people five days a week can be daunting for some. Think about the varying palates, dietary restrictions and general pickiness. With so many variables, there is bound to be extra. With a strategic and measured approach, SAGE Dining Services tries to accurately predict how much food several hundred people will eat daily at St. Mark’s.

“While we prepare our food in small batches to ensure freshness and manage overproduction, it is inevitable that some days you will have leftovers,” said Vinny Tellini, senior food service director with SAGE Dining Services.

SAGE researched local food pantries, including reaching out to Jorge Correa, St. Mark’s community service director and Spanish teacher. Correa connected SAGE with Rob Guild, the manager of food recovery at The Stewpot, who provides thousands of meals every day along with many other critical programs and forms of assistance for the homeless and others in need in Dallas.

“The partnership between The Stewpot and St. Mark’s is incredibly important to me,” Tellini said. “While the over production of food during lunch is not something I prefer, knowing that these extra food items are going to a good place is definitely reassuring.”

A partnership was made, and a plan put in place. The School packages and stores leftovers from the day that The Stewpot picks up to serve later that evening. Strawberries, tamales, drumsticks; whatever is uneaten from the diverse menu that day can potentially be donated. It’s estimated that St. Mark’s donates approximately 250 pounds of food weekly.

“When meatballs were donated, we made spaghetti and meatballs,” Guild said. “Sometimes you give us pans of prepared food, and we serve it as it is. My chefs don’t mind an easy shift, and our guests love good food. It’s been a couple of months, but we still get requests for St. Mark’s etouffee and jambalaya.”

The impact healthy nutrition has made goes beyond simply filling empty stomachs.

“Hearing our kitchen manager exclaim, ‘God Bless St. Mark’s, we don’t have to buy beef,’ is exhilarating,” Guild said. “I wish you could all feel the love and pride I do knowing how much your donations serve us.”