Community Meal Prep Clubs
Community Meal Prep Clubs are team-building workshops designed for corporate, nonprofit, and community groups to support The Food Drive’s Community Freezer Program. They are led by Jess Drench, chef/owner of Mama Jean.
The Food Drive is a community-driven hunger relief and food rescue nonprofit organization that provides grassroots, hyperlocal solutions to food insecurity and food waste in cities and towns north of Boston. Since its launch in early 2022, the Melrose Community Freezer Program has provided over 5,000 meals.
The 2025 program will be hosted by our partners at Food rEvolution, a mission-driven woman-owned, shared culinary space in Stoneham, MA.
Connect. Learn. Give Back.
Engage in a purposeful, structured activity designed to increase collaboration and connection.
Acquire new cooking skills, recipes, and nutrition education in a beginner-friendly class environment.
Prepare balanced, healthy meals for neighbors who are experiencing food insecurity.
How it works
We are happy to accommodate groups of six-12 participants, and will discuss our sliding scale fee structure during your consultation.
Depending on class size, we will prepare 50-125 meals for donation in a two and a half hour workshop. The menu is planned in collaboration with The Food Drive, and will feature fresh produce from local farms.
Optional add-ons for the workshop include small bites prepared by Chef Jess and aprons printed with the logo of your company or organization.
“Change begins in our own neighborhoods, by taking care of each other.”
- Jana Gimenez, Executive Director of The Food Drive
Get involved
Email Chef Jess from Mama Jean to set up a free 30-minute consultation on Zoom to discuss logistics, schedule, and the flexible fee structure for nonprofits, community, and corporate groups.
“Sometimes food insecurity means having less than nutritious, hot, well made, meals. The Melrose Community Freezer program fills in these empty places. I cannot express my appreciation enough or fully. It’s an incredible feeling to have my neighborhood family caring so much for me, without knowing me. Thanks to the Food Drive.”
Sunday Free Meals
Sunday Free Meals from the Melrose Community Freezer is a weekly distribution of free nutritious, balanced frozen meals in which guests select from a wide range of offerings prepared and donated by community cooks. The program is led by The Food Drive and the First United Methodist Church of Melrose (FUMC). All are welcome to participate in the program, which is hosted in the Melrose FUMC Chapel from 11:30am-12pm every Sunday, year-round. Learn more.
Thank you to the Melrose Rotary Club for sponsoring our pilot Community Meal Prep Club event in November 2023, hosted and supported by The Kitchen.
Northern Bank sponsored a Community Meal Prep Club series in Fall 2024 led by Mama Jean and hosted and supported by The Kitchen to support The Food Drive. We worked with volunteer groups from Northern Bank and Temple Beth Shalom in Melrose, who also helped match the grant. Together we made 300 meals for donation to The Food Drive Community Freezer Program.