Update on the Plate: SCH’s Community Plate Chapter Grows

​​​​​Did you know that a fully loaded grocery cart weighs about 200 pounds? Now picture 30 grocery carts filled to the brim. That’s about the equivalent of the 6,000 pounds of food delivered to Whosoever Gospel Mission from SCH cafeteria leftovers this past year. 

Since we first shared the work of SCH’s Community Plate chapter, led by juniors Judah Meyer and Damian Melzer-Surkan, a team of committed volunteers has made more than 35 trips to this local food cupboard, helping food surplus meet food scarcity. 

The SCH chapter of Community Plate now has 22 members who load up cafeteria leftovers on Friday afternoons and drive them to Whosoever. SCH kitchen director Budd Cohen has partnered with the students and carefully crates up items that won’t last through the weekend. Meyer, who started the initiative during his Capstone semester in the CEL says, “I'm thrilled with the progress that Community Plate has made over the past year, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for our organization." 

A vision for that future includes helping other schools launch Community Plate chapters. The SCH team has created a framework for other schools to follow. “Through our existing connections with Whosoever Gospel and Sharing Excess," says Meyer, "we are planning to assist the future chapters of Community Plate in securing a location for food donation as well as developing a system for the deliveries."

Two members of the chapter, Leo Cohen ’26 and Logan Kirkpatrick ’26, are also working on a prototype for a hydroponic garden that might help augment their weekly deliveries.

Image: Aaron Jia, Ariya Goswami, Charlotte Trayes, Damian Melzer-Surkan, and Judah Meyer loaded up to take SCH leftovers to Whosoever Gospel Mission, a neighboring food cupboard.