Neighborhood Food Project comes to Georgetown
Recent Southwestern grad organizes non-profit
Georgetown Neighborhood Food Project is currently looking for neighborhood coordinators to assist with door to door pickups of nonperishable food donations. The collected items will be donated to The Caring Place, Helping Hands and Southwestern University’s student food pantry, the Private Pantry.
This grassroots project is designed to make it easy for people to donate to local food banks on a regular basis. Pickups take place every third Saturday until September, then pickups will become bi-monthly.
“We try to make it as easy as possible for neighborhood coordinators,” said Bryce Stiemert, a recent Southwestern graduate who’s now the founder of the Georgetown Neighborhood Food Project. The organization is now looking primarily for Neighborhood coordinators. “It's a one- to two-hour commitment on pickup day.” Mr. Stiemert said.
Neighborhood coordinators play a vital role in the project. They are responsible for identifying neighbors who are willing to donate, distributing reusable green donation sacks, and collecting the filled bags on pickup days. Coordinators may choose to work with just their immediate neighbors or reach further into their surrounding community. The coordinators are in charge of dropping the bags off at San Gabriel Unitarian Church, where Southwestern students will organize them and distribute them to food banks.
According to the organization being a donor is as simple as buying an extra can of food during your regular grocery run and placing a green bag on your doorstep on pickup day. The initiative helps address a common issue for food banks—fluctuations in donations due to holidays and shifting schedules. By offering a consistent and convenient way to give, the Neighborhood Food Project aims to stabilize food supply for those in need.
“I like telling people to donate things that they’d want to eat,” Mr. Stiemert said. “Things that they would be happy knowing that one of their community members, who needs food for whatever reason, would want to eat.”
Bryce Stiemert recently graduated from Southwestern University summa cum laude with a degree in psychology and political science. He played golf and served as student body president during his junior and senior year. Mr. Steinmert said he has always been passionate about community service. He is originally from Ashland, Oregon, and got involved in the Neighborhood Food Project while completing his community service hours for school.
His family has participated as food donors for years, and he was inspired to bring the initiative to Texas. Neighborhood Food Project is active in a handful of other states, including Oregon, California, Washington and Arizona. Mr. Stiemert hopes that the organization will spread beyond Georgetown.
The next food pickup is scheduled for Saturday, July 19.