Nonprofit, local restaurant to deliver over 500,000 Thanksgiving meals to isolated seniors

WASHINGTON D.C. (7News) — Thousands of Thanksgiving meals are going out to hunger and isolated seniors this week.

Mark Bucher, the co-owner of Medium Rare is working to serve at least 5,000 holiday meals to those who otherwise would not be able to celebrate. He’s received more than 3,500 requests, and more continue to come in.

Deliveries are being made Tuesday through Thanksgiving Day.

Throughout the pandemic, Bucher has worked tirelessly to provide meals to the community. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Medium Rare and the non-profit Feed the Fridge have provided more than 100,000 free, restaurant-prepared meals to seniors and others dealing with food insecurity across the DMV.

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Bucher said many of America’s seniors are hungry, alone, and too often forgotten. While the isolation from COVID-19 brought attention to the issue, the older generation has dealt with isolation and malnutrition far before 2020. He feels these forgotten seniors have been struggling without food in silence and it’s time someone brought attention to them.

Bucher’s efforts to feed the community for free started with a tweet in early March 2020 offering to provide steak dinners to those over 70 or unable to leave their homes, an effort that continues today. Since then, thousands of meals have been delivered to seniors for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Passover and Mother’s Day.

This led him to start the nonprofit Feed the Fridge in August of 2020, placing refrigerators around the DMV stocked with free, restaurant-prepared meals.

Those looking to help battle food insecurity are urged to donate online here. Anyone in need can contact Pat Hisle at patrick@feedthefridge.org. Locations to pick up a free meal with Feed the Fridge can be found here.