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Sydney is involved in the management of existing and reoccurring partnerships at FareStart, and has launched many new ones over the last couple months.

The pillars that make the food donation world go round at FareStart are food donations, monetary donations, redistribution, and meal production/delivery. Sydney tackled each one to create a sustainable and strong foundation of partnerships that can continue to grow over time. She began a partnership with Preservation Meat Collective to address the need of protein for meals when the cost of goods go up, she dabbled in monetary donations by collaborating with Reuben’s Brews to host a fundraising event- working with her colleagues to organize the event with a two-week deadline and successfully seeing 100+ people show up in a four-hour window, she expanded the gleaning program to incorporate gleans at the Beacon Food Forest in order to support their mission and increase produce variety, she re-started redistribution efforts to contribute to the need for more fresh produce at food banks and has redistributed 486 pounds of produce to North Helpline, Ballard Food Bank, and West Seattle Food Bank with the help of her supervisor (Sofia) and UW intern (Fox), and finally, Sydney is in the process of collaborating with the Contract Meals team to increase the amount of meal clients served and expand the reach of the program.

All in all, it takes a village to feed the community. There are many challenges that come along with it, whether it is transportation, communication, or staff capacity related. It is extremely valuable to face these challenges while embracing the successes. The most crucial part of this experience is growing as a society; to find out what works and what doesn’t, to find patterns and solve problems, to be open to change, and to work together- while also growing as an individual. Noting that the interconnectedness of everything and the ability to combine tools and resources will get you the furthest in life, and finding that a career in partnership management is on the horizon- where fresh, local food is accessible to all and the land to grow it is protected and cared for for generations to come.