The Kansas City region generates almost 300,000 tons of food waste a year.
Numbers like those shocked Tamara Weber. So she started her nonprofit, Pete's Garden, a food rescue service. Pete's Garden recovers food from restaurants and caterers that would otherwise go unused, packages it and gives it to families in need.
Kids Feeding Kids is an extension of that work. What started out as a "COVID pivot" is now a full-fledged program run by Pete's Garden. High school students learn to prepare and package up to 1,000 servings of food at a time. Like the restaurant leftovers, the student-prepared meals go to families in the community.
"Students are not only getting this real world opportunity, they are also getting this community service aspect of it too," said Diane Mora, the education and programming director for Kids Feeding Kids.
- Tamara Weber, founder, Pete's Garden
- Diane Mora, education and programming director, Kids Feeding Kids
- Max Kagay, senior at Liberty North High School
