We fight [hunger + poverty] by rescuing food and other items.
Hunger never quits, and neither do we. Through our volunteers and in partnership with dozens of grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers, we rescue roughly 2 million pounds of food and other items each year. Here's how we do it.
Scheduled Rescues
Working 363 days a year, our volunteers make 130 scheduled rescues every week from more than 35 locations, delivering between 4,000 and 7,000 pounds of baked goods, meat, produce, eggs and dairy, cooked foods, and drinks to our building every day by 10 a.m.
For these scheduled rescues, one or more of our more than 250 volunteers use their own vehicles to rescue from stores like Publix and Trader Joe’s, restaurants like Chick-fil-A and 4Rivers Smokehouse, coffee shops like Panera and Starbucks, and even from the Jaguars dining hall! Other volunteers use our box truck to rescue larger donations from Pepperidge Farms, Bimbo Bakeries, Local Fare and others. We also share thousands of pounds of produce gleaned from farmers' fields and neighbors’ trees every year.
Unscheduled Rescues
Known by vendors as responsive, Waste Not Want Not is often called when other charities fail to show up to rescue food as scheduled. Mission-driven, our volunteers willingly take on these last-minute rescues. Last year, just by responding when other charities were closed for the holidays or couldn’t find a driver, Waste Not prevented the discarding of 12,000 pounds of food.
Occasionally, we receive a call to rescue food from unique and interesting places. From time to time, our volunteers are called to help unload food from 18-wheelers! When long-haul truckers with refused food that is still perfectly good call Waste Not for help, we spring into action. Our largest off-the truck rescue to date was 20,000 pounds of potatoes, one 10-pound bag at a time, in less than three hours.
Whether scheduled or unscheduled, we stand poised to rescue food from being wasted so that we can fight hunger. Once we've rescued the food, we use the direct transfer model to immediately get the rescued food out to hungry children, families, and individuals through our network of nearly 100 food distribution partners across 14 counties in Northeast Florida. Our food distribution partners may be soup kitchens, food pantries, child backpack programs, or other mission-aligned organizations. You can learn more about our food distribution partners by clicking here.
Have food to donate? Join us in fighting hunger by becoming a food donor. Learn what we can accept and sign up here.
Ready to volunteer? Join us in fighting hunger by becoming a food rescuer! Sign up on our volunteer page. We’d love to have you on our team!
Know of food going to waste? Waste Not Want Not would love to know about it and rescue it if possible. Please contact us: wastenot@wastenotflorida.org.
