Two Fordham University juniors have devised a smart way to prevent unused student meals from going to waste — and with the help of fellow students, they’ve already donated thousands of lunches to nonprofit Part of the Solution (POTS), just down the street from campus.
Jack Wenz and Andres Caballero launched the Fordham Food Walks program in 2023. Since then, nearly 8,000 deli sandwiches have been donated to POTS, and as word has spread, donations have steadily increased.
“Last week was a record, and I think we beat it,” Wenz told the Bronx Times during a visit on Oct. 18. As it turned out, they did reach a new record of 772 sandwiches donated to POTS on that single day.
Not bad for a handful of volunteers who haven’t formed an official club. “The fact that we’re a completely student-run organization is part of the appeal for some people,” Wenz said.
Fordham Food Walks makes use of pre-purchased meals that go unused when students decide to eat off campus. Students purchase preset meal plans at the beginning of each semester with a weekly allotment that resets on Thursday nights, but they can’t get reimbursed for anything unused — so extras at the end of the week just disappear, wasting money and likely resulting in food waste for Aramark, the campus purveyor.
With Fordham Food Walks, students who have extras in their meal plan order sandwiches at the end of each week from The Grotto, the campus deli. They can use the Grubhub app to order any sandwiches. The Food Walks crew collects the sandwiches in several dorm refrigerators around campus, then brings them over to POTS for distribution the next day.
Deli workers have been incredibly supportive of Fordham Food Walks, said Wenz. The Bronx Times followed him as he wheeled a large collapsible cart to two dorms and collected hundreds of brown-bagged sandwiches from the common refrigerators, carefully stacking them between layers of cardboard. Though students can keep their own food in these fridges, nearly every inch of every shelf and drawer was full of nothing but sandwiches.
Three more students — freshmen Sloane Duys, Abigail Price and Kirsten Rosas — met up with Wenz before collecting more sandwiches from around campus and loading them into carts. Then, they all wheeled the sandwiches — plus a large box of chips — past the campus gates and down Webster Avenue.
Fortunately, Wenz said the group has rarely encountered rain or other bad weather on these weekly wagon trips. But with hundreds of people relying on them, they know they have to transport the sandwiches no matter what. “Whatever’s happening, we have to take them over.”
On the walk, some people on the street saw what was happening and asked for sandwiches.
“We’re bringing them to POTS,” the group told them. “Follow us.”
Outside POTS, a long line had formed down Webster Avenue. Inside, the Fordham volunteers unloaded the sandwiches, marked the ones containing pork and stacked the receipts for counting purposes. Soul music played from a stereo as POTS staffers got ready to distribute food to the hungry folks outside.
“It’s like Christmas in here every Friday,” a staff member said.
Taina Rodriguez, associate director of food and dignity services at POTS, said the organization has its hands full trying to meet the community’s needs for food, housing, medical help, hygiene and more.
POTS has a food pantry and also serves prepared meals, Rodriguez said. They then keep tabs on clients through case management, legal help, mentorships, financial clinics, English language instruction and whatever other services people need to stay on their feet.
Rodriguez said she welcomes the help from Fordham Food Walks, especially coming from the initiative of young students. “Jack found us, we didn’t find him,” she said.
And it’s fortunate he did, because demand for meals at POTS has skyrocketed since the pandemic to almost three million annually, according to Rodriguez.
“You can anticipate growth but never double your growth,” she said. “The worst thing is telling people, ‘I don’t have anything right now.’”
Fordham Food Walks is helping to ensure that doesn’t happen. As clients filed into POTS three at a time, staffers handed each person a box of prepared food, plastic utensils and one of the deli sandwiches.
The Fordham students totaled up their donations to a record-high 772 — up from last week’s record of 614 — bringing their semester total to 2,870.
Caballero said his work with Fordham Food Walks and POTS may have set him on a career path in the nonprofit sector. When he learned about the organization’s holistic approach, “I started falling in love with their mission,” he said.
Caballero has worked since August as an intern at POTS, helping to follow up with clients to see if they are still employed and connecting them to necessary services if not.
As Wenz and Caballero juggle their coursework (Wenz is a physics major, and Caballero is studying psychology) and other responsibilities, overseeing Fordham Food Walks is a labor of love that doesn’t feel like work, they said.
“You have to be passionate about what you’re doing,” said Caballero.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes