Food For Free is excited to announce the upcoming return of one of our most beloved programs, Family Meals, now officially called Heat-n-Eats.

What’s Heat-n-Eats? This program began in 2016 and re-purposes prepared foods into accessible, single-serving meals for people with limited access to kitchens. Meals are created from prepared food rescued from local university and corporate dining halls, and each single-serve meal includes vegetables, protein, and starch. These tasty and nutritious meals are distributed to individuals and families through partnerships with community colleges, schools, and various types of service agencies.

Heat-n-Eats was put on hold when COVID dramatically reduced incoming food from corporate and university dining halls, and forced our Heat-n-Eats kitchen, located at Biogen, to close. But even this shutdown did not fully stop our commitment to distributing as many meals as possible!

After a period of problem-solving, Food For Free was lucky to have the support of our long-time partners at both Tufts and Harvard Universities. These schools have been working during the pandemic with student volunteers to donate leftover food from their dining halls, in addition to the packaging and freezing of meals in their own kitchens.

Despite all the challenges associated with COVID-19, Tufts and Harvard have both been incredible at supporting Food For Free as we navigate our community’s needs amidst uncertainty.

As we gear up to relaunch Heat-n-Eats in the spring, the dedication from students at Harvard and Tufts Universities continues to be strong. According to the Harvard Crimson, almost all of their volunteer sessions to package meals are full for the upcoming semester!

We are looking forward to being able to resume operations in our own kitchen donated by Biogen and are happy to introduce Sam McDermott as the new Program Manager for Heat-n-Eats. Sam’s exploring the distribution of these meals to different communities of people who have illustrated the need for healthy, single-serve meals.

Reflecting on his new role, Sam shares, “We are really excited about the impact that the Heat-n-Eat program can have on student food insecurity in the greater Boston area. Distributing these meals across area schools and community colleges will allow Food For Free to address hunger in our educational institutions where healthfulness is a key to learning.”

Stay tuned for the relaunch of Heat-n-Eats this spring!