Food for Thought: Sapphire’s Surplus

Niva Razin, Staff Writer|September 17, 2015

Food for the Needy. Minister John Begin, his wife, Jackie Begin, and Danielle Nishikuni, supervisor of Sapphire at Sage Hill School, prepare foods for donation, such as fruit, juice, salads, Angus burgers and turkey a la king to feed the hungry, homeless and financially unstable in the Orange County area.

We are fortunate to be surrounded by constant opulence. Our gourmet, on-campus restaurant Sapphire at School perfectly reflects this prosperity. With constantly stocked shelves brimming with a seemingly endless supply of fresh food, one must beg the question: where do Sapphire’s leftovers go?

Danielle Nishikuni, supervisor of Sapphire at Sage Hill School, tells how the restaurant donates its surplus to Waste Not OC Coalition, an organization dedicated to “ending hunger in Orange County [by]… connecting grocers and restaurants to food recovery agencies.”

Originally, Sapphire was approached by alumna Alexandra Magliarditi who connected it with the program. Waste Not OC in turn introduced Sapphire to Minister John Begin of the Costa Mesa Church of Christ to whom it currently donates. However, the Church is now affiliated with Food Finders who work towards “rescuing food, ending hunger.”

Despite the “leftover” status of the food, Nishikuni explains that the donated items are never anything they would not serve to students. Begin says “we’re just thankful we can get anything.”

Generally, Sapphire donates every one to two weeks. Among other things, salads are the most common leftovers, though hot, portioned meals are also contributed, depending on their availability that week.

At times when whole trays of food are gone uneaten, the Sapphire staff often enjoy the food in a familial environment.

In addition to Waste Not OC Coalition, Sapphire’s affiliations also include Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Miracles for Kids, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Maxlove Project. It has has also been featured dozens of times in several local newspapers.

“It’s [Sapphire’s food donation to the needy] pretty awesome because there are a lot of people who don’t have the kind of access [we do] to Sapphire,” sophomore Taylor Garcia said.