One Meal Initiative
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
-Mother Teresa
What is the One Meal Initiative?
The "One Meal Initiative" is a meal donation program initiated by Donor to Diner. The program was inaugurated on September 25, 2015 with the support of UAB administration and Sodexo. Students can donate an excess meal from the meal plan to benefit a student facing food insecurity. Since one meal could be donated from a meal plan, the Donor to Diner's founder, Sippy Sridhar, named the event the "One Meal Initiative".
D2D Founder Sippy Sridhar (left) with a Sodexo Representative
The Benefits of the One Meal Initiative
Students
Students as well as UAB employees and the Birmingham community have also donated meals through monetary donations. The collected meals are distributed to deserving students by the university. These students have the opportunity to enjoy a hot meal in the UAB dining hall, the Commons. Some of these students are temporarily homeless. They do not have the means to prepare food from the UAB food pantry; therefore, the meal vouchers from the One Meal Initiative are the best way for these students to access food.
Sodexo
However, hungry students are not the only people who have benefited from the One Meal Initiative. Sodexo's generosity and unwavering support of Donor to Diner's program was publicly stated to be one of UAB's primary reasons for renewing Sodexo's contract in April 2016. Read the full article here.
Meal donations lining walls of UAB's dining hall
Media Coverage
D2D's groundbreaking program has also been covered by local news media. Check out the articles and news clips about the One Meal Initiative under the "D2D In the News" tab.
Want to host the One Meal Initiative in your university?
Start a Donor to Diner chapter and we'll help you get started. Contact chapters@donortodiner.org
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