RIT Dining donates meals to healthcare staff on the front lines

The dining department at Rochester Institute of Technology is doing its part to help ensure that front-line healthcare workers have access to healthy meals as they fight the coronavirus.

Last week, RIT Dining staff began prepping meals for donation to Rochester Regional Health, a partner of the Rochester, N.Y., university. They plan to make 300 of these meals each week until ingredients run out.

“We’re trying to best utilize the food we already have on campus that was planned for events and the students’ return after spring break,” said Autumn Geer, chef de cuisine for RIT Catering, who came up with the idea for the initiative.

Autumn Geer; photograph courtesy of Rochester Institute of Technology

“I thought, ‘What can we do to help?’” Geer said. “We have stocked coolers and inventory in the freezer and the talent on campus. I have a lot of friends in the healthcare field who are risking their lives every day. They don’t have a lot of food available to them when they need it and aren’t eating properly. They often don’t have time to pack a well-balanced meal. So we’re hoping to do some good, and to keep our staff engaged and inspired to know they are doing something good.”

Meals the team has donated so far include black bean burritos, sweet and sour chicken with rice, and flank steak with roasted potatoes, mushrooms and broccoli.