Feeding San Diego Receives Major Grant From Starbucks to Sustain Food Rescue Efforts Through Starbucks FoodShare Program
Together, Starbucks and the hunger-relief organization rescued 286,709 pounds of food in the non-profit’s last fiscal year
Feeding San Diego is announcing the impact of its local partnership with Starbucks stores as part of the Starbucks FoodShare program, a national partnership between Starbucks and Feeding America to ensure food doesn’t go to waste. This year, Starbucks awarded Feeding San Diego a $93,968 FoodShare capacity grant to be used for ongoing costs associated with the program as well as to purchase fresh produce. Started in 2016, Feeding San Diego was one of the first Feeding America partner food banks to pilot the program, which redirects surplus food to hunger relief programs.
“Hunger relief non-profits and businesses must work together to create a meaningful impact. Seeing a company of this size and stature prioritize hunger relief and food rescue is a significant indicator of what’s possible,” said Patty O’ Connor, COO of Feeding San Diego. “The solution of redirecting food from corporate food supply chains to food banks is unexpected since many people think of food banks the old-fashioned way. There’s the idea that food banks rely on donations from the public, mostly canned goods, or that food banks purchase all the food needed to distribute. But 92% of the food Feeding San Diego distributes is rescued food like the food donated from Starbucks.
Seven days a week, 365 days a year, transportation services company Penske helps Feeding San Diego rescue food from local Starbucks stores, including popular items from the chain such as sandwiches, wraps, protein boxes, and pastries. Feeding San Diego, the only Feeding America partner food bank in the region, was the first to join the FoodShare program after piloting it in 2016. About 160 smaller, local non-profits that are part of Feeding San Diego’s agency network work with Feeding San Diego to obtain food free of charge for their programs, whether a client- choice food pantry, a hot meals program, or a safe parking lot program. Twelve of those agencies receive food from the Starbucks FoodShare program, including Jewish Family Services, Salvation Army, Urban Street Angels, San Diego Rescue Mission, and Third Avenue Charitable Association. Across the county, over 230 Starbucks stores donate their surplus edible food to Feeding San Diego.
Just this past fiscal year, 286,709 pounds of food were rescued through the program, equating to 238,924 meals. The program has successfully solved the logistical puzzle of connecting fresh food with Feeding San Diego, thanks to the partnership with Penske, whose drivers pick up the food donations daily and deliver them to Feeding San Diego’ s distribution center in Sorrento Valley, where partners can either pick it up or have it delivered by a Feeding San Diego driver. Starbucks manages the transportation of all these products from its stores to Feeding San Diego’ s distribution center in Sorrento Valley, generously enabling Feeding San Diego and its partner non- profit organizations to do what they do best—get the food directly to people who need it.
