Here at Food For Free, we’re committed to providing nutritious food for our community. Dry goods and pantry staples are important, but we believe everyone should also have access to healthy food including fresh produce, even when they’re facing food insecurity. Why? Because what we put into our bodies, and making sure we have enough of it, has a huge impact on our overall health and well-being. Only when we’re fed and nourished are we able to reach our potential.
Our partners in the life sciences community, a huge industry here in Cambridge, understand this better than most. These companies are committed to improving human health, and this includes access to nutritious food. That’s why, when the pandemic hit and food insecurity increased in our communities, we received incredible support from many local life science organizations in the region. One of those organizations Life Science Cares has been an invaluable resource for Food For Free and the people we serve.
Life Science Cares was founded in 2016 by a consortium of life science executives on a mission to give back beyond their work commitment to improving health. The organization is a collective effort of life science companies to eliminate the impacts of poverty, and hunger is a vital issue they fight on a daily basis.
To learn more about Life Science Cares, our partnership, and its overall commitment to fighting hunger, we spoke to Sarah MacDonald, the organization’s executive director.
Why is the issue of hunger something vital to Life Science Cares’ mission?
Life Science Cares’ mission is to have a meaningful impact on poverty in the communities in which we operate. As was illustrated throughout the pandemic, one of the first and most dramatic ways poverty manifests is through food insecurity and hunger. It is hard to understand how our other investments—in education, workforce development, etc.—could reach their full potential if people are hungry.
Why do you think there is such a connection between the life sciences industry and a commitment to fighting hunger?
The life science industry exists to improve human health and wellness. While that obviously encompasses the treatments companies are researching, there’s an understanding that food is medicine. With medical and public policy research clearly drawing a link between access to affordable, healthy foods and positive health outcomes, it would be silly to ignore the role food (and the lack of it) plays in wellness. Life Science Cares has supported innovative efforts to increase access to healthy food, including the Food For Free Just Eats produce boxes and a Produce Prescription Program with Waltham Fields Community Farm & Charles River Community Health Center.
Research clearly shows that hunger impacts educational outcomes for children. Studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Pediatrics, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry document the negative effects of hunger on children’s academic performance and behavior in school. Hungry children have lower math scores and are more likely to repeat a grade, come to school late, or miss school entirely.
Finally, and maybe just as important, is the fact that the life science industry does not back down from a challenge. How, in a country as wealthy and abundant as ours, can so many of our neighbors be experiencing food insecurity? This is exactly the type of complex and system-level challenge our industry has the passion to take on.
How do you measure the impact of your work?
Because Life Science Cares funds a portfolio of partners and a wide variety of programs or efforts aimed at decreasing poverty, there is no one-size-fits-all measurement we look toward. Instead, we use a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics, specific to each of the partnerships we fund and build.
For example, in our work with Food For Free, we consider the number of meals or people served, the pounds of food redirected, the number of volunteers we can bring forward to support your work. But we also value the relationship we’ve built and the number of connections we’ve facilitated between companies, employees, and Food For Free. We look at the more strategic pieces of our work—bringing together life science companies to donate food left from corporate cafes, supporting efforts to find, open and staff a new prep space for the Family Meals production—as measures of the impact we can have to support the organization and its critical work.
Having celebrated our fifth anniversary earlier this year, we released Building Collective Impact, a report outlining those quantitative and qualitative outcomes. (We were thrilled to spotlight our work with Food For Free!) We expect to share similar positive results from our COVID-19 Response Fund early next year.
Where do you see opportunities for life science companies and local non-profit organizations to increase their impact together?
Where do I start? The life science industry has an abundance of passion for community engagement and social impact. Through Life Science Cares, we’ve been able to leverage the collective to make significant financial contributions to local nonprofit organizations. More importantly, we’ve harnessed the human capital of our industry in so many ways. Whether it’s recruiting volunteers to work an urban farm or serve a meal at a homeless shelter, connecting professionals with opportunities to mentor or network with young people exploring careers, or recruiting skilled professionals to help our nonprofit partners tackle an organizational or capacity challenge, employees in the life science industry are committed to using their time, talent and treasure in service of our community. We are collaborative, creative, and committed to making a difference.
This year marks Food For Free’s 40th anniversary. What are you most proud of when it comes to the work you did in the past with Food For Free and fighting hunger in the community?
It’s hard to look back over the last 18 months and not be incredibly proud to know the team at Food For Free. When the pandemic hit and we started to see food shortages and hundreds of families in line for food at pantries and community centers, Food For Free was there. They literally jumped into action, using all of the relationships and organizing and distribution expertise they’ve amassed in order to offer their programs to even more neighbors in need. They moved fast and always with a laser focus on those they’re helping. I was proud to represent Life Science Cares and all of our industry stakeholders in playing a small role to support that work.
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Sarah MacDonald, Executive Director of Life Science Cares (LSC), joined the organization in 2017 and has overseen its nearly $4 million grant portfolio since then. Before joining LSC, Sarah served as Executive Vice President at MassBio, the industry trade association. In that role, Sarah led policy, communications, events, and strategic functions of the 1,000+ member company organization.
Prior to MassBio, Sarah held a variety of association and policy positions, including as Interim Executive Director of the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association and as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Department of Business Development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Hartwick College and has a Master’s degree from Northeastern University. Outside of work, Sarah serves as a member of the Select Board in Dedham and enjoys time with her husband, Sean, and son, Griffin.
