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University of Miami student-athletes are making a positive impact in their community. Hurricanes football player Robert Burns is one of the student-athletes who helps in the efforts, spending his weekends helping to deliver free meals to the homeless with his longtime friend and former teammate Anthony Hasan. Hasan, who plays quarterback at Vanderbilt, started the Second Spoon food truck and delivers food that would otherwise go to waste, according to the Miami Herald.
The report outlines how the food truck came to be and provides some insight on just how serious food waste can be.
In Miami-Dade County, nearly 10 percent of people are food insecure, according to Feeding America, a non-profit hunger relief organization. Food insecurity is defined by limited availability of nutritionally adequate foods or uncertain ability to get them. Yet, according to the USDA, between 30 and 40 percent of the U.S. food supply is wasted every year.
A year after speaking with the team chef, Hasan registered Second Spoon with the IRS, created pages on social media and began reaching out to restaurants. After realizing that a new food truck can cost six-figures, Hasan decided on a more modest, converted truck. He held a gala in his parents’ backyard in Miami to fund the truck, raising about $15,000.
The food truck delivers food to homeless people around Miami along with water.
Other players who help in the efforts are Miami soccer player Hannah Marwede, Hurricanes fullback Michael Parrott, and Christian Delgado, a friend of Burns.
Second Spoon is also hoping to operate a new food truck in Nashville while Hasan is at Vanderbilt, with the goal to partner with more churches and business to continue making a bigger difference in their communities.
