Over the years, Poly Prep Kindergarten Head Teacher Kim Davis’ efforts to fight food insecurity in local communities has culminated in something remarkable: more than 95,000 meals delivered, averaging 2,400 meals donated annually.

According to Davis, who also is a co-facilitator for our Lower School affinity group for students of color, United Voices, her work of delivering daily meals to a local community fridge began during the most isolating days of the COVID-19 pandemic. From that simple start, it has grown into one of Poly Prep Lower School’s most inspirational, single-led community initiatives.

Untouched Lunches & Transformative Action

At lunchtime, cafeteria staff delivered a variety of packaged meals to every Lower School classroom, ensuring that students’ preferences and dietary needs were met and that each child had the energy needed to learn throughout the day. Lower School provided a daily lunch service that included both hot entrées and familiar default options like pasta, bagels, or protein packs, popular among younger students with smaller appetites. On days when the entrée wasn’t as popular, untouched hot meals remained; on days when it was a hit, the default options accumulated instead. And because younger students tend to eat less overall, even meals prepared but never served or delivered could add to the surplus. Altogether, these factors created a steady stream of perfectly good, but uneaten food. The challenge is ongoing. Poly Prep is part of a broader effort to reduce waste in schools. Department of Sanitation data shows that more than 40,000 tons of waste produced annually by New York City school buildings is material that could be recycled, composted, or reused.

Davis couldn’t shake the sight of untouched lunches heading straight into the trash bin. Day after day, she watched the waste accumulate and at the same time, she thought of the many people in nearby neighborhoods who were going without. She felt compelled to do something about it.

“It was hard to see so much food being thrown away,” she recalls. And so, she created a solution to collect the untouched packaged school lunches and deliver them to community fridges everyday. Davis asked faculty to place all uneaten meals from their classrooms in the faculty lounge instead of discarding them. On her way home each afternoon, she stops at the One Love Community Fridge on Classon Avenue, tucking the labelled meals inside one by one. Each meal is fresh and thoughtfully shared, with Davis neatly detailing the meal on every package. She observes that by the time she returns the next day, none are left. In her deliveries, she strives to convey dignity, showing care in the smallest details and ensuring that each person receives a healthy and delicious meal. 

Small Action Turns Into Movement

From Davis’ initial action during the pandemic, it has since expanded to days when school is not in session. As word of her work spread through the school community and among family and friends, the effort has likewise grown. Donations for supplies continue to arrive and colleagues step in on the rare occasions when Davis is not at school, ensuring the mission of daily deliveries remains uninterrupted. Her family life has also been changed by her commitment to fight food insecurity. During school breaks, Davis prepares full meals to donate, while her relatives contribute ingredients or help with deliveries. What started as one person’s quiet mission has rippled outward in the best possible way, inspiring others to join and contribute.

Meeting Hunger with Humanity

What keeps Davis going isn’t the increasing number of meals successfully distributed, it’s the people. At the fridge, she meets people she may never have encountered otherwise: parents picking up dinner, seniors stretching their weekly budgets, young adults between jobs. Over time, visitors who regularly stop by the fridge have come to recognize Davis and have built bonds with her. She wants everyone to remember that hunger is a universal issue that impacts people from all walks of life. It may not be obvious, but it is always humbling. “Everyday people who you would never guess may be food insecure,” she says. “You go back the next day, and there’s never a tray left. Everything is gone. Everything is needed.”

Challenges of Keeping Kindness Constant

Still, there are challenges to keep up with demand. Community fridges rely on stability, and when fridges move or close, access becomes unpredictable for those who depend on them. Davis worries about that. She thinks often about what every community needs: dignity, consistency, and the reassurance that “kindness will show up where it says it will.” At Poly, she folds this philosophy back into the classroom. She reminds her students to preserve their lunches if they don’t want to eat it so nothing goes to waste. She teaches them about methods that reduce food waste, and she connects her work to books like Everybody Eats by Niesha Douglas and Marianne LeGreco, helping students understand the connection between small acts and big change. 

Leading Through Compassion and Example

Davis’ efforts both within the classroom and in the broader community have garnered respect and inspiration by her colleagues. “When it comes to helping another human being,” Head Pre-Kindergarten Teacher Olgubala Williams says, “nothing is more concrete than feeding someone. Superlatives are overused in society today, but in the case of Kim. Davis, it is hard to overlook or overstate the amazing and selfless work she has been doing for so many years. Kim is the epitome of sharing, caring, and love.”

Demonstrating awareness, empathy, and concern is a model for students and colleagues alike. “For me, the steadfast dedication that Kim puts into the simple yet impactful act of packing and donating food is indicative of the strength of her character. She truly embodies the principles of caring for others in her community,” says Lower School Spanish Teacher Sarah Ely. “What I admire about Kim’s work is that she brings others along with her, showing our school how easy it is to be in service to others. She reminds Nursery and Pre-K classrooms to bring their leftover food to her classroom so that she can pack it up. This work is not flashy. It can be tedious, messy, and complicated. It may not come with accolades, but that’s what makes it the most important work and why I admire her so much.”

Big Change Begins with Small Acts

In a world full of big problems, Davis reminds us that change often begins with something small: a meal saved from the bin, a steady routine, a clean and stocked fridge, and the belief that every person deserves to be treated with dignity. And from that small act back in 2020, she has ignited a larger movement, one meal, one school, one act of care at a time.

Read more about Poly Prep and its connection with One Love Community Fridge.