'Food truck helps reduce stigma': Red's Good Vibes to double free meals with help from Dover

DOVER — The local grassroots nonprofit Red’s Good Vibes expects to be able to double the meals they dish out to Seacoast communities for anyone facing food insecurity, thanks to an additional food truck from the city of Dover.

The nonprofit’s big red food truck is hard to miss when it rolls into town and sets up in parking lots regularly in Dover, Rochester, Hampton and other neighboring communities.

Caitlin McGrath-Levesque runs Red’s Good Vibes with her sister Meghan McGrath-Harriman, and their brother, Michael Dupont. They started the endeavor with a $100 contribution from each sibling in honor of their late brother who died in 2017 at age 29 who was affectionately nicknamed “Red.”

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“With this acquisition of a new trailer, we'll be able to instantly double our impact by continuing to do exactly what we already do,” McGrath-Levesque said. “We can double the 1,500 meals we already provide each week, and cater to approximately 3,000 meals. That is pretty exciting, organic growth. All the puzzle pieces are fitting together.”

Building a nonprofit like Red’s Good Vibes to give back to those in need by providing meals at no cost was a dream of Red's. After his passing, his siblings started Red’s Good Vibes to keep his memory alive and to make his vision a reality.

When the pandemic hit last year, Red’s was still in its infancy as a new nonprofit. It pivoted to help Mobile Food Pantry deliveries, and continues to hand out free meals to anyone who stops by. No forms or sign-ups required and no questions asked. At each event, Red’s serves 350 to 500-plus meals.

Doubling the good vibes thanks to Dover

A partnership with the city of Dover is in the works and, if approved, Red’s Good Vibes will lease a food truck the city purchased in 2020 with federal COVID grant money with the intention of serving meals to the community. The lease would be for $1 a year with option to renew for two years.

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"It has been used to assist in providing meals for homeless persons in a sanitary, socially distanced manner required for COVID safety," Dover City Manager Michael Joyal said. "Given RGV’s demonstrated experience and capability, the council will be voting to authorize use of the city’s trailer by RGV in conjunction with their own trailer. The intent being to allow them to expand their service and continue providing free meals over the coming year for those experiencing food insecurity throughout the region."

McGrath-Levesque said that it’s not the size of their current truck that limits their future growth, it’s being stationed at one location that is limiting. Having a second truck would allow the nonprofit to “be in more than one place at one time.”

A resolution will go before the City Council for a vote at its next meeting. If approved, the city will still own the truck and Red’s Good Vibes will lease and operate it.

Dover Mayor Bob Carrier and other city councilors voiced support for helping Red’s Good Vibes expand its work in a council workshop meeting Wednesday night.

“We were all in, and we thought it was a great idea,” Carrier said. “We have a beautiful food truck we got through a COVID grant. Caitlin wants to activate it and put it to good use. Since it's much larger than her current truck, it will allow her to keep doing what she does and expand the boundaries they can serve.”

The volunteer-based nonprofit leverages relationships with New Hampshire Food Bank to help keep food costs below a dollar per meal and keep operational costs low enough to continue reinvesting in itself. McGrath-Levesque said that their operation is "deeply rooted in family and a passion for giving back to anyone who needs it."

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“It's not just those that are living unsheltered," McGrath-Levesque said. "While it is a large population of the people that we do serve, there's that gap of people that may or may not not qualify for assistance, people that are having trouble putting the food on the table. The food truck helps to reduce that stigma and the hesitation for people reaching out for help because it's not reaching out for help, it's coming to a food truck and getting the meal just like anybody else.”

McGrath-Levesque said they’ve looked into expanding their efforts strategically, and when they learned of Dover’s unused food truck, they knew they were up to the task of putting it to good use. She said she hopes the work they do inspires similar efforts in other communities.

“With the city of Dover, having this very well-equipped, beautiful food trailer, and even being willing to have a conversation with us, is pretty amazing and speaks volumes about addressing food in our area,” McGrath-Levesque said. “This is just another step in the right direction, and we’ve proved that our organization can make an impact. Running events simultaneously is a scalable form of growth for us.”

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: How Dover, NH is helping Red's Good Vibes double free meals