Meet The Team

Cindy Qiao

Founder / Director

Nina Diecidue

Assistant Director

Zoe Uppot

Assistant Director

Cindy is a senior at Newton North. She is on North's volleyball and tennis teams and loves traveling. She started the initiative because she was shocked at the amount of untouched food that was being throw away solely due to regulations when there is a large number of students who go about their days hungry.

Nina is a sophomore at Newton North. She is a runner and loves to spend time outdoors with her friends! She joined the FUEL/food diversion program because she understands the importance of every student having the nutrition they need to thrive and be able to fully participate in their learning at school.

Zoe is a sophomore at Newton North. She is a passionate helper in the FUEL/Diversion program. She joined the initiative in hopes of easing the minds of students across Newton and beyond, to ensure that everyone gets the food they need and deserve. Outside of school, she enjoys traveling, running, listening to music, and spending time with friends!

Anna Lee

Assistant Director

Anna is a sophomore at Newton North. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, listening to music, dancing, and participating in outdoor activities. This year, she's committed to making a positive impact in my community. By joining the FUEL initiative, she hopes to continue her work as an assistant director and ensure that more children receive the food they need to perform well both inside and outside of school.

Grace Ahn

Assistant Director

Grace is a freshman at Newton North. She enjoys hockey and writing. She joined this food donation project to help make sure no student goes hungry. Small acts of giving can make a big difference, and she wants to be part of that change.

Sadiya Ali

Assistant Director

Sadiya is a sophomore at Newton North High School. She enjoys spending time with her cat and making memories with her friends. She joined the FUEL/Food Diversion program because she enjoys volunteering, and helping other students have access to snacks and stay energized throughout school.

Our Adult Supporters

Alexander Lee

Volunteer Driver

Crista Cavicchio & Chris LeGare

Bigelow Coordinators

Alexander is the First Lieutenant in an effort to find Green Parent Lieutenants at all NPS schools who can assist Green Captains (faculty or staff) at every campus. He helps pick up the rescued food from Bigelow and Underwood every Wednesday. As a member of the sustainable materials management commission for the City of Newton, he is concerned about recycling, composting, and other waste. He works with the district to reduce pollutants like ketchup packages so that Newton can have an unpolluted stream of compost that can be hauled away by Black Earth. At recent events involving pumpkins for Halloween, he has advocated to save the seeds and see as much of this food source used to feed the hungry as possible.

Ms. Jean is the Building Aide at Underwood Elementary School, while also helping to cultivate her new role as Green Team Captain. When she was contacted about being a part of the Food Diversion Program, it brought so much joy to her heart. There are families in the community who could greatly benefit from a little extra and this program does just that!

Chris LeGare and Crista Cavicchio are the Green Team Captains at Bigelow Middle School. They both share a love of nature and reusing materials to make creative things. Long before the Fuel Incentive Program started, Bigelow teachers noticed that many apples and oranges from school lunch were ending up in the trash and started to collect them for other students to eat. They are so happy to be a part of the Food Diversion Program so that more and more fruit can be collected for hungry people across the city. They estimate that they save about 4 dozen apples and 1 dozen oranges a week from the trash!

Jean Van Putten

Underwood Coordinator

Chris Ruggeri is the Operations Manager at Centre Street Food Pantry. He is so grateful for the opportunity to partner with FUEL and to help get food to students who need it. At Centre Street Food Pantry, a large part of our focus is on children, and providing families with foods their children will eat. So providing snack foods to FUEL is a perfect fit. Plus, snacks are amazing! There are days where something as simple as a bag of goldfish or a granola bar has changed my whole outlook. It's incredible that FUEL helps to ensure all students have access to these resources. He is so impressed by everyone involved and thrilled to be able to support their efforts.

Chris Ruggeri

Centre street food pantry contact