Share My Meals - Princeton Non-Profit Keeps Restaurants Open During the Pandemic to Feed Those in Need

In this episode, I speak to Share My Meals's President and Co-Founder Isabelle Lambotte about her vision for Share My Meals Inc. The non-profit was initially created to fight hunger by recovering meal surplus from corporations and Universities cafeterias.Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, Share My Meals's volunteers are working non-stop to feed the community in need. Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros from the Municipality of Princeton comments on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on restaurants and businesses in Princeton. Two restaurant owners Michele Moriello of La Mezzaluna, and husband and wife Amar Gautam and Amanda Maher owner of The Meeting House a new restaurant in Princeton are sharing their experiences. Both restaurants have decided to keep a reduced team and to partner with Share My Meals to cook meals for the families served by Isabelle and her team of volunteers. Patty Yates, is an African American community leader and a Share My Meals recipient. She talks of the need of her community and explains how she redistributes the meals received from the non-profit to her community.   Visit Share My Meals at https://sharemymeals.org/  

Hello? Hey, Patty? Hi. Yes, hi. How are you? I'm good. Is now a good time? Good.

Yeah, it's fine. Patty, can you please introduce yourself? I've been here in Princeton since 59. I just do what I do because I feel good about doing it. I work in my church and that's just me. I have a grandson. I have two daughters, one in Lawrence, one in New York. I have a daughter in New York.

I have a daughter in New York. I have a daughter in New York. I have a daughter in New York. I have a daughter in New York. I have a daughter in New York and one in Lawrence, one in Trenton. I have a son in Philadelphia who is a psychologist. And my daughter is a manager of a complex in Trenton. And what about yourself?

Did you work? I used to work, yeah. I worked for all my life until I think I retired in 2014. And what did you do? did you do? And not that I wanted to. I did a lot of different things. My last job was that social security. Oh, okay. And did you tell me that you lived in Germany? Yes, I did. My father was in the service and we traveled a bit. I lived in Germany and went to school there and my stepmother is from Frankfurt. So we spoke German a lot and I enjoyed it.

I loved it. I want to understand, you know, what is the perception of the community of this nonprofit and in your experience working with them, how Charmaine Meade has been helping the community? Oh, okay. Well, as far as my working with them, it's been very good and the people who I have passed out the meals to really, really enjoy the meals and they appreciate them all very, very much. And I think that this was the best option, not option, but the best thing that they could do for people at a time like this and to all the people who are volunteers and donors, you know, we truly, truly do appreciate this. And there's not enough words to even say how much we appreciate and how much all the residents

on Clay Street appreciate. So yeah, tell me a bit more about whom you are passing the meals to. I pass them to seniors. I also pass them to families who I know maybe might be working just one day a week now. And I pass them to families that have been laid off. So I take turns passing the five meals around. Okay. And I don't want to take too much of your time, but can you tell me how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the community? I think that it took a while before people really took everything serious about the whole thing. But now that they are, it is like, I don't know, it's like a sad depression with the way it's going. You know, we can't go to church, we can't, you know, really enjoy

each other. But I guess we should just be thankful that we are alive and doing well. So we be thankful for that. Okay, Patty, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Okay, take care and be careful. Bye bye.

Share My Meals - Princeton Non-Profit Keeps Restaurants Open During the Pandemic to Feed Those in Need
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