By Isabela Torkamboor
The University of Maryland’s Food Recovery Network chapter works with campus dining halls and local organizations to redirect surplus food to underserved populations in the College Park area. Since its founding, the chapter has recovered 226,000 pounds of food, according to club President Vasisht Ishwar.
“We typically recover pasta dishes and chicken, and also vegetables,” said Tania Mostoufi, a junior biology major who serves as a recovery leader.
The process begins after a dining hall closes. Volunteers work together to transfer leftover food into aluminum containers, which are weighed, labeled and prepared for transportation. A typical recovery involves about eight students, including two or three recovery leaders and five or six additional volunteers, said Mostoufi.
“We take about 35 minutes to package up the food, label it and send it to the car,” said Mostoufi. “Then it takes about 10 minutes to get to Christian Life Center.”
Christian Life Center, a church located a short drive from campus, serves as a central distribution point for much of the recovered food. Its large refrigerator allows volunteers to store a large amount of food overnight, while the church’s relationship with the surrounding community helps get meals to people who need them.
“They also just have a great connection with the community around them,” Ishwar said. “They know the people who are facing food insecurity and are great at distributing the food.”
The chapter has recovered approximately 7,600 pounds of food so far this semester. It recovered 11,000 pounds during the spring 2026 semester and 15,000 pounds during fall 2025, said Ishwar.
The organization also reports that its efforts have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 860,900 kilograms by keeping surplus food out of landfills, according to Ishwar.
Behind those figures is a student-run operation that relies on coordination between volunteers, dining hall staff and community partners.
As president, Ishwar oversees funding, maintains relationships with dining hall staff and the church and addresses concerns among the executive board and volunteers. The chapter receives funding from both its national organization and the university’s Student Government Association. Ishwar said the national organization has granted the chapter $2,800 for the 2026-27 school year.
Most of the funding goes toward the disposable aluminum containers used to package recovered food. The chapter also reimburses drivers for gas, helping cover the cost of transporting food from campus to its destination.
The club’s structure allows students to participate without requiring extensive experience. Volunteers sign up for shifts through GroupMe, while recovery leaders oversee the process and teach newcomers how to handle and separate food properly.
For students like Avery Kremer, a sophomore neurobiology and physiology major, volunteering offers a direct way to contribute to the local area.
“I really like volunteering with them because I know that I’m actually giving back to the community,” Kremer said. “I also feel like the community of people doing it here is a great group.”
The chapter has also expanded its work beyond distributing food through Christian Life Center. In response to concerns about food insecurity among university students, the organization began preparing individual meal packages for the campus pantry.
“We’ll package almost like meal prep,” Ishwar said. “A little Tupperware of rice, chicken, something else and give that to the campus pantry.”
The addition reflects an effort to address food insecurity both within the university and in the surrounding community. While the church helps distribute recovered food to underserved populations in the College Park area, the pantry provides another way for the organization to support students on campus.
“Almost everywhere you can think of where there’s food on campus, we are a part of,” Ishawar said.
Featured Image: Student volunteers load aluminium containers of food into a car for delivery to Christian Life Center on Oct. 21, 2026. Photo by Isabela Torkamboor.