We just started using this service at GoDaddy/Locu and had our first pickup today. It was painless, felt good, and made me want to make sure the rest of the local tech community knew about them.
What happens if someone gets really sick off our leftovers? A caterer of an old employer told me they didn't donate food to shelters because of the legal liability.
I used Food Runners for close to a year at my old company and was continually impressed with their service. Even when something went wrong, they were quick to correct and improve each week. They began small but are growing. It felt good to donate the food rather than compost it.
We started <a href="http://communityplates.org/" rel="nofollow">http://communityplates.org/</a> a few years ago to help with this issue. Our goal was to use volunteers + technology to help with the logistics for getting the excess food to the people that needed it. Proud to say we will rescue over 3M pounds of food this year from grocery stores, restaurants, farmers markets, etc.<p>We are in Fairfield County, CT, Albuquerque, NM and Columbus, OH, but looking to grow.<p>(By the way, if anyone is looking to donate some app development time to a good cause, we'll gladly take the help)
This is amazing! I used to actively participate in a group that made and delivered food to the homeless a long time ago (about 11 years ago) and that is something I miss doing. I think that organizations like this one, who are doing what they are doing for no other reason (religious, political, ideological or otherwise) than to help those who need help the most are very inspiring. I wish them all the best and hope that they eventually start expanding to other cities like Tampa and Orlando.
Wish this could be done in the UK -- was giving a talk at a conference over here; hanging around back stage at the end of the night, it was quite disheartening to see that all the food trays (one of which hadn't even been started) were shovelled into black bags; the caterers said they weren't allowed to give the food to charity :(
I was just at a conference two weeks ago ... right at the Embarcadero. Looking at some street folks in the park. Wondering what happens to all that extra food, and whether I could sneak some out. Thanks for posting this.
Feeding the hungry without inquiring why they are hungry can enable self-destructive and anti-social behavior such as drug addiction. Do the food banks and homeless shelters in San Francisco help the homeless turn around their lives?