WRITTEN & REPORTED BY WINNIE McCROY | As part of their consistent support of LGBTQ+ causes, the New England-based food delivery service’s Feast & Fettle Fridge will provide 200 healthy meals and snacks each week for at-risk LGBQT+ clients of the Ali Forney Center (307 West 38th Street.). The fridge will ultimately serve up more than 3,000 meals annually for the 40 percent of New York City’s homeless youth who identify as queer.
“Every single day, hundreds of people come through their doors who live on the streets or who have been kicked out of their homes just for being queer, and they need food,” Feast & Fettle Chief Marketing Officer Alon Rivel told LGBTQ Community News NYC. “A lot of programs don’t offer food with high nutritional value—just chips, soda, or ramen. Getting a hot meal with chicken and broccolini, or a fruit parfait or fresh juice is big. So we said, ‘Let’s do this!’”
The fridge is available to all overnight clients of AFC, who can just talk to the staff and get whatever food they need. Available options include lots of veggies, fried rice, tofu, sweet potatoes, yogurt, juices, and soups like minestrone and matzoh ball.
An AFC client we interviewed said the pasta dishes were their favorite, adding that the food there “often reminds me of home.” They said the team was interested in knowing what the youth wanted to eat, and how to make the space feel like a home.
“Food is the vehicle for change—but it’s not the only thing,” said Rivel. “If you’re sitting with someone and sharing a meal, you are getting access to conversations where you build community, love, and support. That’s what I hope happens when these kids share a meal. They can find out about a job, start a friendship, or just have a moment to feel seen and loved.”
“Dinner is a time when we all come in and get to be together. Once we are in the community room, we can hear about all the programming happening that we didn’t know about before. Some people are coming in for a meal, but they get much more,” said the AFC client.
Feast & Fettle installed the fridge and is paying for the food and its preparation, as well as the fleet of vans and drivers that deliver the food from their Rhode Island headquarters to New York City twice a week, clean out the fridge, restock and maintain it.
“For us, it’s not just checking a box,” said Rivel. “So many brands would laud this at [June’s] Pride month, but we live these values internally. Our kitchen is filled with people formerly incarcerated, in recovery, trans, queer, and non-binary. This is authentic; it really matters to me that we’re helping gay people, because I am in this community. I am the CMO with a seat at the table; I have access, so this is what I am going to do with it.”
The team at AFC are also pleased to be able to partner with Feast & Fettle on this first-ever healthy meals and snacks pick-what-you-like fridge project. They hope it will allow them to create a homelike environment where their youth can gather, share a meal, and experience a sense of belonging.
“At the Ali Forney Center, we believe every young person deserves more than just shelter. They deserve a home, a place where they are affirmed as worthy of safety, warmth, community, and love,” said Alex Roque, President and Executive Director of AFC, in a statement. “It is profoundly beautiful when companies like Feast & Fettle join us in this work, sending a powerful message to our young people that they are seen, cherished, and deserving of connection, community, and care—truly the magic of a family meal.”
“That’s what I hope opens up for them, that so many of these kids don’t get: that you’re worthy of a meal, that you are loved today,” said Rivel. “I hope every young person who opens the fridge feels supported and reminded that they are not alone.”
Feast & Fettle started this partnership with AFC after folks at Boston’s Family Equality (a national nonprofit for LGBTQ+ families) suggested it would be a good fit. In Boston, Feast & Fettle has used its premium home delivery service to provide more than $30,000 in food donations, funding, and event sponsorships for gay youth in Boston via BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth, as part of an ongoing relationship with Family Equality. Partnering with AFC on this first Feast & Fettle Fridge is an extension of these efforts. Over the next year, they will expand the Fridge program to Providence, RI.
For more information, visit FeastandFettle.com/impact or www.aliforneycenter.org.
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