Volunteer Spotlight - Linda Rosens
What began as rescuing small amounts of surplus food from a few local bakeries 18 years ago has now grown into a nonprofit organization that provides thousands of monthly meals for Austin neighbors in need. Linda Rosens can attest to that, as she has been there through it all.
Linda is married to Randy Rosens, the founder of Keep Austin Fed. Through their shared passion for ending food waste, they have laid the groundwork for what the organization is today. Now, one of Keep Austin Fed’s longest tenured volunteers, Linda recalls how she felt the first time she noticed larger portions of food being wasted right in front of her and how it inspired her to take action.
“I had never thought about [food waste] up until that time. I had never been a food rescue person, I never noticed…But that just changed everything – seeing that and how that beautiful food was just going to waste. And then, just bringing it to someone else made a big difference to them. Seeing that was just really how it all started,” Linda says. “Leftover food should not be wasted.”
Even after moving to Washington in 2011, Randy and Linda both continue to stay involved with the organization from afar. Because winters in Washington are often frigid and rainy, Linda finds herself spending those months back in the warmth of the Capitol City — eager to get back to volunteering.
“I love coming down. It’s super easy to just fall into my old routine and pick up exactly where I left off. I immediately turn on all of my notices, alerts, and groups with Keep Austin Fed and start signing up for everything,” Linda says.
In recent years, Keep Austin Fed has taken significant steps forward in its operations, including the addition of cold storage spaces, receiving a donated refrigerated van from Whole Foods Market, hiring more full-time staff, increasing the number of food contributors and recipient organizations, and moving our logistics to the Food Rescue US platform, an interactive system that manages food donations and rescues. These improvements are what Linda finds inspiring.
“That has been astounding,” Linda says. “We never saw anything like that 15 or 20 years ago. That kind of growth has been an interesting thing…It’s really easy to just pick up [open runs], especially with more and more of the technology that Keep Austin Fed is using. It’s really easy to plug back in and just start up again.”
Linda is sure to come back to Austin every winter and is eager to get back to spending her time volunteering with Keep Austin Fed and reconnecting with that feeling of decreasing food waste, and in turn, helping the community.
