“Red Rabbit: Providing essential service to the under-served”

Posted By Rose Smith

According to their press release; ” Since 2011, Red Rabbit has worked directly with charter and public schools, Pre-K for All, Head Start and private daycare programs to develop high-quality meal programs that incorporate breakfast, lunch and snacks, all under the federal reimbursement rates. As school closures were announced, Red Rabbit pivoted overnight and mobilized its 100+ employees and resources to ensure that vulnerable communities received the food they desperately needed. Red Rabbit has been a key provider of food for over fifteen years and recognizes the importance now, more than ever, to act on its mission to serve students and the increasing number of people who are now in need of meal assistance.

Red Rabbit is unparalleled in their standard for the level of food quality and variety that kids receive, at prices below the federal reimbursement rate. Each component of a meal prepared by Red Rabbit is made-from-scratch – everything from the salad dressing to the muffins and made fresh daily in Red Rabbit’s Harlem kitchen. Favorite menu items offered through Red Rabbit meal programs include cauliflower mac & cheese, al pastor tacos and pesto chicken. In tandem with providing quality food to students, Red Rabbit’s Education Programs aim to cultivate confidence and curiosity when interacting with ingredients in a hands-on learning environment that helps foster healthy relationships with food”.

Founded by Rhys Powell “Red Rabbit” is known for providing fresh delicious meals to the Charter and Public schools, as well as private daycare programs.   Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and schools having to close, “Red Rabbit” saw that there was this growing need for meals by others in the communities they are already serving.    Whether it is via their new initiative “Mobile Distribution Routes” in Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and the Lower East Side delivering to those communities that have limited access to quality food to students who would normally take public transportation. Or at their “Meal Distribution Sites” where they offer a 5-Day Meal Kit that students can pick up at distribution sites once a week in order to limit travel time and promote social distancing. Red Rabbit is on track to provide up to 15,000 meals across 200 sites in the New York metro area daily while stay-at-home orders are in effect.  Red Rabbit has also partnered with Chef Jose Andres charity “World Central Kitchen” to prepare meals for older adults living in Harlem, Washington Heights, and Downtown Manhattan.

Richard Judge, Logistics Supervisor works with a team of 15 drivers to make sure kids and families in need of great meals get the food they need on time. We serve about 25,000 fresh meals every day during the school year, and right now we are pretty close to those same numbers for folks in need. We try to give everyone a meal prepared with dignity, fresh from our kitchen in Harlem, but it’s so hard right now to serve everyone since the need is so large.

You can check out our free meal-pickup sites at myredrabbit.com, or follow us on Instagram @myredrabbit. Our meals are fresh, and made-from-scratch each day. One of my favorites is our Butternut Squash mac and cheese!

We partner with programs directly to provide food for those in need. Most of the time, the cost of the food can be covered by reimbursements or funders.

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