The event was over, and the guests had gone home, but the RK Bluff City team had a plan for even more work to begin.
Fresh off catering a large event for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the crew at RK Bluff City faced the moment every caterer dreads – trays of good food leftover, with no one left to eat it. What happened next took about 90 minutes and moved more than 700 pounds of food to 10 local organizations.
Under the direction of Executive Chef Patrick Smallen and Distribution Coordinator Rose Coleman, the team turned the loading area into something closer to a relay. As each rescue vehicle pulled in, staff loaded carts with a deliberate mix of items so no organization drove away with 200 pounds of the same thing. Then they formed an assembly line, passing pans hand to hand and packing each vehicle securely for the drive.
The nonprofit representatives talked about the quality of the food and the team that treated a donation pickup like a service call. After every vehicle pulled out, the RK crew stopped for a photo.
The visitors who wanted to take it home
The event was big enough that RK brought in extra staff from its Austin branch. Those employees had never seen a rescue like this one, and by the end of the morning, they were the ones asking questions.
Overheard on the dock that day, comments ranged from, “This is the best part of my day!” to something even more encouraging: “We need something like this in Austin!”
That last one might be the most important sentence spoken all morning. A food rescue program doesn’t scale through policy alone. It evolves when someone works one shift, sees how it’s done, and carries it back to their own kitchen.
Why it matters right now
The organizations that showed up that morning are under real pressure. Food costs keep climbing, and the number of people walking through their doors keeps growing with them. Every pound they don’t have to purchase is a pound they can put toward serving one more family.
Partners like RK Bluff City provide a genuine service, and not only for the neighbors on the receiving end. There’s something that happens to a kitchen team when the answer to “What do we do with all this?” stops being the dumpster. The people who cooked the food get to see it go somewhere it’s needed – and that changes the energy of a workday.
Collaboration that feeds
Project Green Fork is proud to partner with Rose, Chef Smallen and the entire RK Bluff City team. What they’ve built is a group of people who care and the willingness to stay a little longer after the guests leave.
The impact of one morning? 700 pounds distributed to 10 organizations.
Interested in joining the movement?
Whether you’re a caterer, venue or food service provider, Project Green Fork can help you create a safe, simple food donation process that works for your team. Contact us to learn more.
