Food Charity Clarity

Could you function without food? Though it’s hard to imagine being hungry in a nation as food-abundant and wealthy as the United States, under “normal” circumstances, 1 in 9 people are food insecure. The COVID-19 pandemic has sent the number of people needing food aide soaring, especially among high-risk communities—children, elderly, sick, homebound, homeless, and during this crisis, even healthcare workers and other frontliners.

Federal, state, and local governments are addressing this expanded need to feed people, yet the task is so vast that established food charities have stepped up and new visionaries have stepped in.

You can help these nonprofit efforts, but how do you decide which to support?

Perhaps you pick the nonprofit with a proven track record of success or the new one directly aiding your neighbors and local community. Or you give what you can to as many as inspire you.

To help you decide, you’ll find here in one place the mission and key details for many food charities. Learn about who is behind them and why they are committed to fighting hunger. Select the DONATE button to give.

NOTE: New for 2020 taxes: You will be able to write off up to $300 in charitable donations, even if you don’t itemize your tax deductions.

We’ll keep adding to this list as we discover more. If you know of a national or regional food charity or campaign serving a unique audience, please share the information with us at Food Passion Projects. []

FOOD-BASED NONPROFITS
IN THE UNITED STATES

ALL In CHALLENGE FOUNDATION

Headquarters: Delaware
Operates: Online
Date Founded: April 2020
Founder: Michael Rubin, founder/executive chairman of Fanatics, a licensed merchandise company, along with Alan Tisch and Gary Vaynerchuk.

MISSION: Provide food to those in need—kids, elderly, and frontline workers.
#ALLINCHALLENGE COVID-19 CAMPAIGN: The world’s top sports, music, and entertainment figures donate prized possessions and create once-in-a-lifetime experiences that are made available for online auction and as giveaways. The All In Challenge aims to be the world’s largest digital fundraiser in history by raising tens of millions of dollars to feed those in need. 100% of money raised will be donated to benefit: Meals On Wheels America, No Kid Hungry, America’s Food Fund (World Central Kitchen and Feeding America).
Notable: The highest bid so far is $800,000, from a contributor vying to go the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home opener, receive a game jersey, and have dinner with Tom Brady.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE/PARTICIPATE: (Via sweepstakes and giveaways)
AllInChallenge Foundation is a registered nonprofit.

BRIGHTER BITES

“The kids get excited. They can’t wait to see what’s in the bag. We make produce cool…Parents want to do right for the children but they don’t have the resources. We want to be part of the solution.”—Lisa Helfman, Founder/Board Chair

Headquarters: Houston, TX
Operates In: Texas: Houston, Dallas, Austin; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Southwest Florida
Date Founded: 2012
Founder/Backstory: Lisa Helfman and Dr. Shreela Sharma. Helfman’s participation in a local produce coop helped her change her family’s eating habits. Her six-year-old son even chose fruit over cake at a birthday party. Helfman realized that exposure to produce could help other families, especially those in food “deserts,” and with Dr. Sharma, a health and nutrition expert, founded Brighter Bites in 2012.

Mission: Offers a free program to educate children and their families in underserved communities about making better food choices and how to use and enjoy produce. The nonprofit works with schools and community organizations to introduce families to a variety of fruits and vegetables over the course of 16 weeks. Participants watch demos and sample the foods, then take home bags of free produce along with nutrition tips and recipes.
COVID-19 Campaign: With schools closed, Brighter Bites continues to distribute thousands of pounds of fresh produce and nutrition information to families at food banks and other community pick-up sites. This is direct-from-farm produce that would otherwise go to waste because it is not being purchased for regular clients like schools. They also created a grocery voucher program in which families get $25 to spend in a store’s produce aisles.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HUNGER (TCAH)

Headquarters: Brooklyn, NY
Operates In: New York (Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx)
Date Founded: 1998, as a small pantry out of a church basement
Executive Director/Founder: Dr. Melony Samuels

MISSION: The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) helps thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers by giving them the food and resources they need to survive, with the goal of setting people free from New York’s social services safety net. It offers services and programs like food delivery; nutrition, cooking, and urban farming education; and the Fresh Vibes low-cost mobile farm fresh market.
COVID-19 RELIEF CAMPAIGN: More than 1.4 million meals served since March 2020. Hundreds of pre-packed bags of nutritious food are delivered daily to families in need across the city. For every $1 donated, TCAH distributes $5 worth of food to New Yorkers in need during the COVID-19 outbreak, especially to the most vulnerable clients.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE

FEEDING AMERICA

Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Operates In: Nationwide
Date Founded: Late 1960s
Founder/Backstory: John Van Hengel. While working as a soup kitchen volunteer, Van Hengel met a woman searching for food outside a grocery store for her children. From her idea of a place to store and share unused food, he created St. Mary’s Food Bank, the nation’s first. In 1979 he created a national food bank organization. In 2008, the network became Feeding America.

MISSION: For more than 35 years, Feeding America has responded to the needs of individuals struggling with food insecurity in the United States. Feeding America gets nourishing food – from farmers, manufacturers, and retailers – to people in need, via 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs. They feed 40 million people at risk of hunger, including 12 million children and 7 million seniors.
COVID-19 CAMPAIGN: Feeding America and its network of food banks continues to provide food to people in need during these times of uncertainty.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
Nonprofit ID #: 36-3673599

feed the second line

“We’re focusing on the elders, knowing that their staying home is the safest thing. We’re doing it in very personal way. We’re building relationships. Deliveries are made be young musicians; there’s a link there. We’re bringing them food fresh from the market and healthy meals. We’re giving them choice, and dignity. We want to show love through food.” —Devin Du Wulf, Founder

Headquarters: New Orleans, LA
Operates In: New Orleans
Date Founded: March/April 2020
Founder/Backstory: Devin Du Wulf. From mid-March to early May 2020 the Krewe of Red Beans, a local Lundi Gras parade group, founded and led Feed the Front Line NOLA to serve COVID-19-focused healthcare workers meals from local restaurants. In late April 2020, the group created Feed the Second Line to provide food and jobs to local older musicians, artists, and cultural figures in the community.

MISSION/COVID-19 CAMPAIGN: After the intense work and success of Feed the Front Line NOLA, helping to keep local-owned restaurant crews employed feeding pandemic-focused hospital teams, the team switched gears. The Krewe of Red Beans launched Feed the Second Line and now uses donations to employ younger musicians and artists to buy and deliver free groceries for older, at-risk artists and musicians, to sustain its irreplaceable New Orleans cultural heroes.

Website
Social Media: Instagram
DONATE: Krewe of Red Beans is a Nonprofit.

FIGHT2FEED

“There’s massive amount of food waste, and massive amounts of need. We’re the “boots on the ground,” the connector, we’re out in the field bringing food we make to people on the street. We are very much into treating people with dignity. We want the food that they eat to be enjoyable, as good as we eat ourselves.” —Jiwon McCartney, Founder/CEO

Headquarters: Chicago
Operates In: Chicago, Atlanta, Kansas City, Plymouth, MA, Pensacola
Date Founded: 2014
Founder/Backstory: In 2013, Jiwon McCartney founded Culinary Fight Club, a live cooking competition hosted in cities around the country. A year later, she created Fight2Feed, the nonprofit arm of the organization, working with the same chefs and food producers and distributors. They have helped to share the abundance and comfort of good food enjoyed by Culinary Fight Club participants with those less fortunate.

Mission: Reduce food waste and share food with hungry friends in need. The organization’s team rescues food from restaurants and coordinates donations from food distributors. The Fight2Feed chefs and volunteers prepare meals then distribute them to soup kitchens, churches, and to people living on the street.
COVID-19 Campaign: During the pandemic, need has grown exponentially and the Fight2Feed team has stayed in the arena, ramping up efforts to rescue even more food. They have eight people working seven days/week and have made 2,200 meals per week since mid-March 2020. They have also offered “free pantries” with additional rescued or donated food for 500 families. A diverse group of newly unemployed executive chefs and volunteers prepare meals at Hutch Café, a restaurant shuttered during the crisis.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
Fight2Feed is a registered nonprofit.

FOOD FORWARD

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity in our region skyrocketed. Food Forward's mission has taken on an even greater sense of urgency. We have been able to answer that call by dramatically growing our produce recovery efforts and supporting a pilot initiative by the USDA to distribute tens of thousands of boxes full of fresh produce to our community each week. During this crisis, our high-impact work to mitigate food waste, while simultaneously fighting against hunger, is more crucial than ever." - Rick Nahmias, Founder/Executive Director

Headquarters: Los Angeles
Operates In: Southern California
Date Founded: 2009
Founder/Executive Director/Backstory: Rick Nahmias. While walking in his verdant Valley Glen, CA neighborhood, Nahmias realized that fruit was going to waste. He and two volunteers later picked 800 pounds of produce and shared it with a local food bank. Since then, Food Forward has rescued and shared almost 100 million pounds of fruits and vegetables.

 Mission: Recover more than 200 varieties of perishable produce from farms and farmers markets that would otherwise be wasted, then share it with more than 1,800 Southern California hunger relief organizations.
COVID-19 Campaign: Food Forward has created several Rapid Response Hubs in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties to help quickly redistribute produce to meet the expanded need during the COVID-19 crisis. The organization is also redirecting recovered produce to partner agencies in severe need of food supplies—to meet up to four times more demand than usual—as others have closed during the pandemic.

 Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
Nonprofit Tax ID # 90-0678872.

FOOD RECOVERY NETWORK (FRN)

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity in our region skyrocketed. Food Forward's mission has taken on an even greater sense of urgency. We have been able to answer that call by dramatically growing our produce recovery efforts and supporting a pilot initiative by the USDA to distribute tens of thousands of boxes full of fresh produce to our community each week. During this crisis, our high-impact work to mitigate food waste, while simultaneously taking steps to fight against hunger, is more crucial than ever." - Rick Nahmias, Founder/Executive Director, Food Forward

Headquarters: College Park, MD
Operates In: 230 Colleges Nationwide
Date Founded: 2011
Executive Director/Backstory: Regina Anderson. In 2011, four students at the University of Maryland, College Park, noticed dining hall food was being trashed every night. They founded Food Recovery Network (FRN) and by the end of the year redistributed 30,000 meals to local hunger relief organizations. In 2012, the second FRN chapter began at Brown University. There are now 230 chapters in 46 states and DC.

Mission: College students fight food waste and hunger by recovering food from their campus that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to those in need. The goal is to change the norm from food waste to food recovery in the United States. They have so far recovered 4 million pounds of food, donating 3.2 million meals.
COVID-19 Campaign: Though colleges closed early in the pandemic, removing FRN’s regular process of dining hall food recovery and redistribution, the FRN college and national teams continue to serve. As companies have canceled events for which food was already delivered or ordered, FRN work with them to get the food to nonprofits feeding people in need. 

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE

FRONTLINE FOODS

Headquarters: San Francisco
Operates In: Nationally, and Locally in 60 Communities
Date Founded: March 2020
Founder/Backstory: Started in San Francisco when Sydney Gressel, a nurse at UCSF’s Medical Center, coordinated with friends to feed busy COVID-19 medical staff. It soon became a national network of like-minded visionaries who want to help people on the healthcare frontlines and on restaurant teams.

Mission: Supports local restaurants in each community while feeding pandemic-focused hospital workers.
COVID-19 Campaign: Donations can be made to the national organization, and the funds go to communities most in need or launching a new local operation. Contributors can also fund local communities across the country from Alabama to Portland, Las Vegas to Maine.
Website
Social Media (national; also look for the local Frontline Foods near you): Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
Partners with World Central Kitchen for donations.
World Central Kitchen Nonprofit ID: 27-3521132

GOD’S LOVE WE DELIVER

Headquarters: New York
Operates In: New York
Date Founded: 1986
Founders/Backstory: Ganga Stone and Jane Best. In 1985 after visiting an AIDS patient too ill to cook, Ganga Stone, a hospice worker, prepared and delivered a meal to him. In 1986 Stone and Best created God’s Love We Deliver. For 16 years, the organization delivered millions of specialized meals to home-bound patients with AIDS. In 2001, the mission expanded to serve clients with other serious illnesses.

MISSION: God’s Love We Deliver cooks and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves. To support clients’ health, they also provide nutrition assessment, education, and counseling. God’s Love is a non-sectarian organization serving people in need and their children and caregivers. Services are provided free to clients.
COVID-19 EMERGENCY FUND CAMPAIGN: God’s Love We Deliver clients are at the greatest risk for COVID-19, as many are elderly and all living with underlying conditions and severe illness that make them especially susceptible to the virus.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE

ITALIANS FEED AMERICA

“The idea was born because as a Italian chef/restaurateur, I knew a lot of Italian food distributors had food that they could not sell. We’re able to give hungry people high-quality ingredients, restaurant-quality meals. I wanted to do something that represents the Italian-American community, a way to say that we want to help and say thank you for the opportunities we have received in the United States.”
—Founder Fabrizio Facchini

 Headquarters: New York
Operates In: New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco
Date Founded: April 2020
Founder: Fabrizio Facchini

MISSION:  Chefs, restaurateurs, food producers, and suppliers (of Italian origin or simply Italian food lovers) share Italian food with food banks and other organizations as well as prepare free meals for children and frontline workers.
COVID-19 RELIEF CAMPAIGN: Distribute donated food collected from food industry partners to pantries,
soup kitchens, school districts, and others in need.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram
DONATE
Nonprofit ID: 85-0637898 (in-process application)

MEALS ON WHEELS AMERICA

“Meals on Wheels is uniquely positioned to reach high-risk older adults amid the pandemic. Our local programs are on the frontlines working tirelessly to adapt to the rapidly evolving situation, deliver meals safely, and respond to the additional demand for services to ensure that no senior is forgotten.”
—Ellie Hollander, President/CEO

Headquarters: Arlington, VA
Locations: Nationwide
Date Founded/Backstory: Grassroots organizations started delivering meals to seniors in the 1950s.

MISSION: Provide meals for homebound elderly through 5,000 independently operated senior nutrition programs across the country. The national organization provides research, education materials, and funding to support the shared mission.
COVID-19 RESPONSE CAMPAIGN: Vulnerable seniors are at the greatest risk amid COVID-19. Local Meals on Wheels programs are on the front lines, focused on keeping older Americans safe and nourished in communities nationwide. Dedicated donations are distributed to local programs through emergency grants. “No-touch” meal deliveries ensure seniors and delivery personnel stay safe.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
Nonprofit ID: 23-7447812

NO KID HUNGRY

"For the millions of kids across the country who live with hunger, school meals can be the only food they can depend on each day. It's up to all of us to make sure America's kids — our future leaders — aren't left behind during this national emergency. Thanks to generous and swift support from individual donors and partners, we're able to deploy these emergency funds quickly to help provide meals to kids who are most impacted by school closures. This is at least one aspect of the current crisis that is solvable." —Founder Billy Shore

Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Operates: Nationwide
Date Founded: 2010
Founders/Backstory: Billy and Debbie Shore. In 1984, they launched Share Our Strength in response to famine in Ethiopia, and over 25 years invested in local nonprofits as well. In 2010, the No Kid Hungry Campaign was created.

MISSION: To end childhood hunger in the United States.
COVID-19 CAMPAIGN: “Before the pandemic, 1 in 7 kids in the US lived with hunger. According to recent estimates, now that number is 1 in 4…Every day that schools are closed, kids miss out on nearly 34 million meals.” Funds go to provide emergency grants to school districts and community organizations to ensure that children, who would normally have access to free in-school meals, still get food. Grants support home-delivered meals, pop-up meal programs, school and community pantries. Resources include an online “Free Meals Finder” map.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
No Kid Hungry is a registered nonprofit.

OFF THEIR PLATE

Through Off Their Plate, I have been able to bring back seven of my most vulnerable team members. They are providing meals to healthcare workers who are tirelessly dedicating themselves to the crisis. I carpool every morning and evening with my employees so that no one has to take public transportation. This has given me the opportunity to learn more about their individual circumstances. It is touching to see how OTP has made a difference in my employee’s lives through economic relief that helps them feel more stable during this time. —Tracy Chang, Co-Founder

Headquarters: Boston
Operates In: Boston, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Chicago, Washington DC, and Philadelphia
Date Founded: March 2020
Founder/Backstory: Harvard medical student Natalie Guo. Off Their Plate was “born over breakfast.” Guo teamed up with two of Boston’s top chefs: Tracy Chang (PAGU) and Ken Oringer (Little Donkey, Toro, Uni, Coppa) and the first hospital: Brigham and Women’s.” The organization is led by a coalition of private citizens, medical students, restaurant owners, hospital leaders, and the communities around them. 

MISSION: A grassroots movement to rally around COVID-19 healthcare workers and impacted frontline shift employees. Local restaurants create and deliver nutritious “Hero Meals” and “Hero Kits” (groceries) for hospital teams and provide economic relief to local workers affected by COVID-19 restaurant closures.
COVID-19 CAMPAIGN: 100% of donated funds go to the restaurant partners to prepare meals and provide economic relief to their employees. OTP is fully organized by volunteers. For every $100 donated, 10 meals are sent to the COVID-19 frontline and $50+ of economic relief to local shift workers. Restaurant leader experience means operational efficiency and optimal safety measures taken. Restaurants plan their shifts and acquire the right quantity of ingredients leading to the low $10/meal cost. Relationships with health partners provide clarity into their exact needs for precise meal delivery.

Website
Social Media: Instagram
DONATE
Off Their Plate partners with World Central Kitchen globally to process donations.
World Central Kitchen Nonprofit ID: 27-3521132

RETHINK FOOD

Headquarters: New York
Operates In: New York
Date Founded: 2016
Founder/CEO: Matt Jozwiak

MISSION: Rethink Food NYC utilizes food excess from restaurants, grocery stores, and corporate kitchens to create new nutritious meals for those in need. Rethink has also set up operations for Emergency Food Management, to not only feed those in need during times of crisis, but to fund and activate local food purveyors during these times. Rethink is working to make this a national program.
COVID-19 EMERGENCY FOOD RESPONSE CAMPAIGN: With many restaurants closed due to the virus, Rethink has received more than 19,000 pounds of food from first-time food donors. Meal production and direct transfer donations to partner organizations increased exponentially. Implementing the Rethink Cafe model in their existing space, restaurants will be able to remain open, keep staffs employed, and feed the community. Community Hunger Relief: Rethink is dedicated to feeding their community food supply partners and is working with 14 local community service organizations. Rethink is offering financial support, extra food supply, and staffing assistance.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
Rethink Food NYC is a registered nonprofit.

SHOPPING ANGELS

Founder/CEO Jayde Powell:  “I wanted to find a way to contribute to my community. I got the idea from my mom, and it was the perfect way for me and my friends to volunteer our time. It has grown beyond our biggest dreams!”

Headquarters: Nevada
Operates: Nationwide; Canada; Australia
Date Founded: March 2020
Founder/CEO: Jayde Powell

MISSION: Shopping Angels provides free food shopping services to people at higher risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus, including individuals over the age of 60 or those with impaired immune systems.
COVID-19 CAMPAIGN: 8,000 volunteers in the United States and 800+ in Australia. Shopping Angels is in the process of establishing 501(c)3 non-profit status. They will file for retroactive exemption for early donors. There are many needs for funding, which includes volunteer background checks, hosting the website, and more. They accept physical donations of items on a local scale. They also host a Sponsor Angels program, for those who want to pay for someone’s groceries.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram
DONATE
Nonprofit application in progress.

SUPPORT + FEED

Headquarters: Los Angeles
Operates In: Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia
Date Founded: March 2020
Founder: Maggie Baird (mother of Billie Eilish and FINNEAS)

MISSION: Provides support for LA and NY plant-based restaurant teams that are suffering as a result of the current pandemic. Provides support and plant-based meals for vetted organizations and groups that have been impacted by the crisis such as first responders, hospitals, and senior centers.
COVID-19 CAMPAIGN: As part of the Plant-Based Party initiative, DoorDash will donate $5 for every #PlantBasedParty mention on social media, (up to $30,000) to Support + Feed.

Website: https://www.supportandfeed.com/
Social Media: Instagram
DONATE

WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN (WCK)

Headquarters: Washington, DC
Operates: Nationwide (and at international disaster sites)
Date Founded: April 2020
Founder: José Andrés

MISSION: World Central Kitchen feeds the hungry at disaster sites around the world as “Food First Responders,“ serving millions of meals each year.
#CHEFSFORAMERICA COVID-19 RESPONSE CAMPAIGN:  Distributes individually packaged, fresh meals in communities that need support – for children and families to pick up and take home, as well as delivery to seniors who cannot venture outside. WCK is active in dozens of cities providing nearly 200,000 fresh meals every day. WCK also created the #ChefsForAmerica program to make the key connection between people who need meals (particularly hospital workers) and restaurant teams who need to earn a living.

Website
Social Media: Facebook Instagram Twitter
DONATE
Nonprofit ID: 27-3521132

*If you know of a national or regional food charity or campaign, particularly one serving a unique audience, please share the information with us at Food Passion Projects. Thank you.[]