LMC Class of 2015 announces ribbon cutting of its project

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – The Leadership Montgomery County (LMC) Class of 2015 is excited to announced the ribbon cutting of its class project on May 26, 2015 at Whole Foods in The Woodlands.

Each year, the current class of Leadership Montgomery County is tasked with selecting a project that addresses a need in the county. This year, the LMC Class of 2015 decided to address the issue of food insecurity.

Food insecurity is defined by the USDA as a situation of “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.”

The LMC Class of 2015’s plan is to tackle the issue of food insecurity by creating a food recovery program. The program, named Keep US Fed Montgomery County, partners with local hospitals, restaurants, and grocery stores to recover the food that would otherwise be thrown out. The food is then delivered to area nonprofits to distribute to those they serve. The class is hopeful that the program will help reduce hunger in the county using perfectly good food that otherwise would have become part of the waste stream. By doing this, they are starting to put a dent in the approximately 30 percent of food in the U.S. that ends up in a landfill each year, according to United States Environmental Protection Agency.

“We are excited to see the impact that this year’s class project will make,” said LMC Chairman of the Board James Stilwell. “The LMC Class of 2015 is creating a sustainable program that has the potential to feed thousands of Montgomery County residents.”

To date, the LMC Class has recovered 4,753 pounds of food in just four months from beginning work on the project. With local partners like Conroe Regional Medical Center, Whole Foods, and Kroger, the food recovery project is picking up momentum.

The program was created with a partnership between Keep Austin Fed and The Montgomery County Homeless Coalition.

Keep Austin Fed (KAF), based out of Austin, Texas, is serving as a model for Keep US Fed Montgomery County. Each month, KAF keeps an estimated 40,000 pounds of food out of the waste stream. They started with recovering loaves of bread from a local bakery, and brought it to a shelter in need. This idea became contagious, and now has been the springboard for a local initiative to take place here in Montgomery County.

The Montgomery County Homeless Coalition will operate the program locally in Montgomery County.

“Thanks to the LMC class’ thorough, collaborative planning with Keep Austin Fed, the Homeless Coalition is thrilled to be selected as the local operating partner for this transformational food recovery project,” said Nancy Heintz, president of the Montgomery County Homeless Coalition.

The official ribbon cutting will be held on May 26, 2015 at 4 p.m. at The Woodlands Whole Foods Market located at 1925 Hughes Landing Blvd., The Woodlands, Texas 77380.

For more information on ways to get involved with Keep US Fed Montgomery County, please visit www.KeepUSFedMoCo.org. Leadership Montgomery County (LMC) is a501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, dedicated to developing and enhancing current and future leaders of Montgomery County. The mission of LMC is to prepare emerging and existing leaders to understand local issues, grow their leadership skills and connect with others to better serve Montgomery County.

LMC is a joint project of the Greater Conroe/Lake Conroe Area Chamber of Commerce and The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce. The Greater Magnolia Chamber of Commerce, the Greater East Montgomery County Chamber, the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber, and the Magnolia Parkway Chamber are also participating Chambers in the LMC program. Participants are chosen by application process in June of each year.

For more information about Leadership Montgomery County, please visit LMCTX.org.