Bite-Sized News

Brendan (left) and Aiden, shown here at UNC-Charlotte, recover an average of 150 pounds of uneaten food each week.

liable if the Kellys weren’t safe guardians of their food. Organizations like Loaves & Fishes, which recently merged with Friendship Trays, didn’t want prepared food because they can’t be sure each meal has been cooked or stored properly. Loaves & Fishes distributes only nonperishables and grocery items like cheese, milk, and eggs people can use to prepare their own meals, says Sue Bruce, the organization’s marketing director.

So Aiden did some research and learned they’d need to set up Kellys’ Community Kitchen as a nonpro t. If they became a 501(c)(3), the Kellys and their donors couldn’t be held liable if someone got sick a er eating their food. It took several months to le the paperwork, though, and COVID continued to rage.

When Aiden and Brendan picked up again in 2021, River Run had cooled to the idea of their food recovery program, and as restaurants struggled with supply shortages, there wasn’t as much le over food. That’s when Aiden got the idea to target colleges. He found plenty that were willing to help, but most didn’t have a surplus of raw ingredients to donate, and food pantries like Second Harvest were already scooping up dry goods.

What they did have, though, was le overs. So Aiden and Brendan changed their approach and partnered with Belmont Abbey College and UNC Charlotte dining services to take their excess prepared food. But soon, they encountered yet another hurdle: They were taking in far more food than they could safely and quickly repackage or store in their home. “Plus, our target audience had been Tent City,” Aiden explains. “We were going to truck the food down there on Saturdays and hand it out, but then they got shut down.”

Instead, they got commercial catering bags and coolers and trucked the food to FeedNC, a Mooresville-based food pantry that takes in excess perishables to cook, serve, or package. Today, the Kellys estimate they rescue an average of 150 pounds of food a week, and on any given a ernoon, UNCC’s dining hall might have 100 pounds of le overs or 500 loaves of bread they can’t serve. Brendan and Aiden pick it up, pack it in coolers, load it into their trunk, and deliver it to FeedNC. “Right now we don’t cook anything,” Aiden says. “We’re just the connector because we’re willing to do the dirty work.”

They haven’t given up on the idea of cooking and serving in the future. Aiden’s 16-year-old brother, Liam, wants to pilot a household-level service in their Davidson neighborhood by going door to door to collect produce and perishables to cook and package.

“A lot of people don’t want to talk about this stu , but these aren’t just people under the I-277 bridge,” Aiden says. “They’re in our backyards and can’t get their nutritional needs met.”

“We’re just reallocating resources,” Brendan adds. “We meet plenty of resistance. … But what’s weird about diverting unused food from the land ll and into somebody’s belly?”

BITE-SIZED STORIES

Foodie Tidbits on a Small Plate

TYBER CREEK PUB, a South End mainstay for more than two decades, will close its location at Tremont Avenue and South Boulevard in early 2023 to make way for a mixeduse high-rise. The Irish pub will reopen in a new, 4,500-square-foot space on the same site in 2025.

Two years a er he closed THE PEOPLE’S MARKET on East Boulevard, Cory Duran will reopen in the former Earl’s Grocery space on Elizabeth Avenue. Look for the food counter and bottle shop to open in spring 2022.

Chef Duke Kroger will open CINDER in South End this summer. Expect open- re cooking, tasting menus, and a cocktail lounge with a bourbon bar.

Greg and Subrina Collier will reopen their popular breakfast spot, UPTOWN YOLK, in a 2,800-squarefoot, ground-level retail space at Vantage South End this spring. The restaurant will have an expanded food menu, co ee program, and full bar. —Taylor Bowler