Who's That Gal: Ashley Stanley, Founder and Executive Director of Lovin’ Spoonfuls

Name: Ashley Stanley
Occupation: Founder & Executive Director of Lovin’ Spoonfuls
Hometown: Wellesley, MA
Current ‘hood: Sherborn, MA
Currently reading:  Rage by Bob Woodward and Disloyal by Michael Cohen.
Favorite workout: Cody Rigsby Peloton rides 
Favorite quarantine activity: nesting
I never leave home without____: sunglasses

Tell us a little about Lovin’ Spoonfuls. What made you decide to found the nonprofit?

Lovin’ Spoonfuls is a nonprofit food rescue organization based in Boston dedicated to facilitating the rescue and distribution of healthy, fresh food that would otherwise be discarded. 

 Each week day, Spoonfuls’ 12 Food Rescue Coordinators work with over 200 vendor partners across eight truck routes to pick up wholesome, perishable food from grocery stores, produce wholesalers, farms and farmers markets, and distribute it to more than 160 community nonprofits that address food insecurity in Greater Boston, MetroWest and Western Massachusetts. Communities served include: Boston, Cambridge, Brighton, Somerville, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Lynn, East Boston, Melrose, Watertown, Woburn, Wakefield, Burlington, Newton, Quincy, Needham, Natick, Framingham, Ashland, Bellingham, Milford, Waltham, Sudbury, Southborough and Hampden County (Springfield, Chicopee and Holyoke). 

Every week, Lovin’ Spoonfuls rescues roughly 75,000 pounds of food to serve about 30,000 people within these communities; more than 17 million pounds have been rescued and distributed since we started in 2010.

What was your career before Lovin’ Spoonfuls?

High-end retail store design

Tell us more about what you do day to day. What do you love about your job?

Over the last decade my role has obviously shifted away from the day to day operations, and more towards strategy and overall policy work, both internally and externally. Basically, my work is now focused on the how, and less on the what. Building this company has been challenging, at times painstaking, but always purposeful - it’s meaningful work.

What’s hardest about the work you do?

I fundamentally don’t believe that social service (at least charitable hunger relief) is the responsibility of the private sector, but there was absolutely no market for a different play in terms of providing some immediate relief. 

What skill is most important for you to be successful? Why?

Perseverance and faith. Faith in whatever makes sense to you - can be yourself, something larger, an ideal. But perseverance is literally the key to each day.

 
How has COVID-19 impacted the work you’re doing? 

Over the last 10 years, Lovin’ Spoonfuls has sought to help heal our communities through food. Unfortunately, the current pandemic further amplified the disparities in access to fresh, healthy food. 

 Since the beginning of March, our team of Food Rescue Coordinators (FRCs) have remained on the road, rescuing and distributing food to our community partners. Initially, we saw a number of our partner nonprofit agencies close due to safety protocols, and we also saw a drop in the amount of food rescued while everyone prepared for lockdowns and quarantine. Quickly though, the quantities of food returned to normal, and have continued to stay there. 

 On the road, we pivoted from two FRCs per truck to one to ensure social distance. We also worked to sanitize trucks at the end of each day to be prepared to safely move team members between trucks, should someone get sick. When not on the road, our FRCs worked from home to support administrative projects, and stayed safe. After months of solo work in a physically demanding and emotionally charged environment, when infection rates in Massachusetts had remained stable, in late June we returned to teams of 2 FRCs in our trucks where needed, which provided a welcome physical and emotional support for our team. 

 Our FRCs have followed all necessary safety protocols on the road to ensure the integrity and safety of the food we deliver. At any indication of symptoms or potential exposure, our team members were pulled off the road and tested to confirm a negative result before returning to work. We have been fortunate that our team has remained healthy through this point!

 Meanwhile, on the road, we’ve seen the need for our partner organizations grow as food insecurity rates have risen. With lines forming and agencies adapting to new service models and approaches, we remain committed to supporting their efforts on the ground. We added partnerships with a number of new agencies and saw our applications for support increase more than 200% over the same period last year. In response to this increased need, our operations team and our FRCs have worked to get as much food out into the community as possible. 

 In our Food Rescue operations, we have recovered and delivered more than 2,000,000 pounds since the beginning of March. And in addition to that, from April – July, we added delivery of meals prepared by Blue Cross Blue Shield and the distribution of produce boxes from Costa Produce through a USDA grant. 

 In late July, in response to COVID fundraising efforts and the increased need in our communities, we launched a new route in the area of Revere, Everett, Lynn, East Boston, and neighboring cities. This area has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and our team worked diligently to build new partnerships on both sides of our operations. To launch this new Greater Boston route, we added a number of new vendors and 18 new nonprofit agency partners. 

Many JUGs readers work for corporations. What can they do to push their companies to be more sustainable?

Everyone has choices, and businesses have choices - vendors used, how resources are used… it can even come down to being intentional about in-office recycling, composting, etc. All the way to how and from where lunches are ordered.

 
How can JUGs readers get involved and support Lovin’ Spoonfuls? 

Donate. What we do is local, immediate and responsible. Donors can be assured their money is working efficiently and effectively to alleviate hunger in our local communities. No amount is too small and we are incredibly grateful for your support! Every $1 we raise feeds a person for a day. 

Any advice/words of wisdom for other professional ladies?

It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.

Anything else you want to share?

Vote. This is consequential beyond measure.

How can JUGs readers learn more about Lovin’ Spoonfuls? 

To learn more about Lovin’ Spoonfuls or to donate to the organization, please visit lovinspoonfulsinc.org. For the latest updates and events, join Lovin’s mailing list or follow on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Love reading about inspiring women?

Lindsay Gardner is an Instructional Designer living and working in Boston. You can follow her on Instagram @lindsaygardner09.

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