Continue reading Worcester Community Fridges: Weatherizing and protecting fridge enclosures

Worcester Community Fridges: Weatherizing and protecting fridge enclosures

Project Description Since the pandemic, Worcester Community Fridges has strived to fill in the gaps of food insecurity in Worcester by providing a public communal fridge where anyone can donate and take food at one’s leisure Due to the unique challenge of maintaining a fridge outdoors, our project was meant to explore ways to better…

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Continue reading El Buen Samaritano: Implementing Data Collection Software at El Buen Samaritano

El Buen Samaritano: Implementing Data Collection Software at El Buen Samaritano

Project Description For over 30 years, the El Buen Samaritano Food Program (EBS) has served the Worcester community by providing food and clothing to those in need. Since its founding, the organization has used a pen and paper system to track the resources they provide and collect demographic information on their clients which is needed…

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Continue reading Worcester Community Fridges: Following The Food – Developing a Data Collection Tool to Monitor Community Fridge Usage

Worcester Community Fridges: Following The Food – Developing a Data Collection Tool to Monitor Community Fridge Usage

Project Description This project aimed to better understand the usage of the Worcester Community Fridges by developing data collection tools for the organization. The main constraint was maintaining the hands-off, self-service mission of the fridges while still gathering a significant amount of data. We interviewed volunteers as well as researched similar projects done by other…

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Continue reading Transitioning El Buen Samaritano to a Digital Data Collection Platform

Transitioning El Buen Samaritano to a Digital Data Collection Platform

Project Description Through our project, we aimed to facilitate and simplify the food distribution and data management process for the local food pantry, El Buen Samaritano. By implementing a technological solution, we hoped to improve the inventory system that the organization is currently using. Shifting from the current pen-and-paper system to a digital system, the…

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Continue reading DoughBoyz: Cooking up a Sustainable Plan for Community Events

DoughBoyz: Cooking up a Sustainable Plan for Community Events

Project Description The project team researched and assessed the current operations of DoughBoyz. From this, they identified bottlenecks and areas of improvement where DoughBoyz can optimize their profits for use towards charitable events. The team developed several deliverables that will help DoughBoyz hold consistent Community Breakfast events. These deliverables consisted of a cost analysis spreadsheet,…

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Continue reading DoughBoyz: Redesigning the DoughBoyz Website

DoughBoyz: Redesigning the DoughBoyz Website

Project Description: The goal of our project was to help Justin Amevor identify the best way to grow his mission driven company, DoughBoyz, and apply improvements for his website to support his growth. Project Sponsor: DoughBoyz is a growing business with hunger relief, sustainability, and social justice in mind. Its founder initiated the idea of…

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Continue reading Worcester Regional Food Hub: Exploring Opportunities within the Nexudus System

Worcester Regional Food Hub: Exploring Opportunities within the Nexudus System

Project Description Nexudus was implemented as a first stage in a bigger operations strategy for the Food Hub. The current project will identify and execute more potential for efficiency gains in the commercial kitchen at the Food Hub. The team will specifically look at the possibility of integrating some of the following processes into the…

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Continue reading Thrive Support and Advocacy: Designing a Food Pantry

Thrive Support and Advocacy: Designing a Food Pantry

Project Sponsor: Thrive Support and Advocacy Thrive Support & Advocacy, founded in Marlborough, MA, during the 1970s, is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering, advocating for, and assisting youth and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental disabilities (DD), and intellectual disabilities (ID). Our sponsor’s mission is to help their audience and their families not…

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Continue reading Northborough Composting: A Peri-Urban Land Conflict

Northborough Composting: A Peri-Urban Land Conflict

Welcome to our page! During our Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP), we worked in collaboration with the office of Massachusetts State Senator Harriette Chandler in order to address the tense situation in Northborough, Massachusetts surrounding a farm’s large-scale composting operation. More specifically, we planned to resolve the tension between the community and the farm that arose…

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Continue reading Worcester Regional Food Hub: Profitability of a Commercial Kitchen

Worcester Regional Food Hub: Profitability of a Commercial Kitchen

For our Interactive Qualifying Project, we worked in collaboration with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Environmental Council of Central Massachusetts to analyze the profitability of a commercial kitchen located in Worcester.  A commercial kitchen is a facility with space that can be used to produce large quantities of food.  The kitchen…

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