Ever wonder what happens to Commons leftovers? For years, Bates has donated the food that doesn’t get eaten to the Trinity Jubilee Center in downtown Lewiston. Trinity, directed by Bates alum Erin Reed ’08, serves meals to the hungry and makes excellent use of a wide variety of food that would otherwise go to waste. In regular circumstances, Trinity serves a hot meal six days a week to 100-200 people each day. During the pandemic they are busier than ever, having shifted their operations outside and to bagged lunches in order to support physical distancing. In the last couple of weeks, Bates has donated sandwiches, cereal, fruit, cookies, and other items they can no longer use. Marcel Deschaines, a recently retired Bates employee shown here with some Trinity staff members and volunteers, makes deliveries from Bates to Trinity whenever Dining Services has food they no longer need.

The Trinity Jubilee Center was recently featured in a CBS Sunday Morning story outlining the increasing demands upon food banks due to COVID-19.  Click here to watch.