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As Calgary businesses shut their doors in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, some eateries are opting to donate their food to a local charity.

Lourdes Juan, founder of the Leftovers Foundation, says more than 20 local restaurants, cafes and bakeries have called the charity asking to donate food that would otherwise go uneaten.

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In all, that’s more than 13,000 pounds of food — including 10,000 pounds donated from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology alone. The generosity has made for a busy few days, Juan said.

“We tried to make it as co-ordinated as possible, but this is pretty emergency and pretty ad hoc,” she said. “Most of this food is already prepped. They just need to get it out of there before it goes bad. The food needs to go to an agency to be used within 24 to 48 hours.”

Partnering with businesses is something Juan has done for years, collecting food that would be wasted and delivering it to organizations that serve vulnerable or marginalized communities. But going to familiar eateries — Ten Foot Henry, Diner Deluxe and the Palomino among them — that won’t reopen for weeks or even months was a surreal experience.