Weekly Donation Meals

WEEKLY DONATION MEALS

An example of one of our donation meals: bowl made with rice, slaw, pork, vegetables, and sauces!

At Aslan, we pride ourselves on helping our community. One way we do this is by donating 35 warm meals every week to our houseless neighbors. We started this program in 2020 as a way to help feed hungry folks living in the homeless encampment, Camp 210. After they started a meal train, we wanted to organize a weekly meal pickup to relieve some of the volunteers who had been cooking for the folks living in the encampment. 

Our donation meals began with Camp 210, but when the camp was disbanded, it turned into an online meal train through Bellingham Mutual Aid, in which we have a permanent weekly spot. Volunteers pick up meals every Thursday and pass them out downtown to those needing a warm and nutritious meal. 

Our morning kitchen lead, Brandon, is in charge of making this meal every Thursday along with another opening cook. They look at all our in house ingredients and come up with something balanced, nutritious, and warm. Often, restaurants have an excess of ingredients from food specials, meat trimmings, over-ordered items, and more. On average, restaurants waste 4-10% of their food inventory before it reaches the consumer. All the while, so many people need something to eat!  Brandon turns these extra ingredients into bowls, sandwiches, and soups for the meal train, cutting down on food waste and helping the community simultaneously! 

Brandon & Sam

Sam preparing the meals

Since 2020, we have donated approximately 6,000 meals, and we plan to keep it going. COO Layne Carter says:

“There will always be a need to feed hungry residents of Whatcom County, and we don't intend on stopping this program anytime soon.”

To learn more about Bellingham Mutual Aid, follow them on Instagram @bopmutualaid.