One million pounds of excess perishable food rescued and delivered to feed those in need. It’s a milestone Saving Grace Perishable Food Rescue reached in late July – just 34 months after the nonprofit agency began operations.
“This translate to one million healthy meals provided to clients of our partner agencies – homeless shelters, children’s centers, food pantries, senior centers and other nonprofits,” said Beth Ostdiek Smith, Saving Grace’s founder and president. “The fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, prepared meals and grain products supplement diets that may otherwise be nutritionally deprived.”
Saving Grace provides a pipeline that connects excess perishable food that would otherwise go to waste with nonprofit agencies that feed the hungry. Donated food from grocery stores, restaurants, caterers and other food purveyors is matched with the needs of partner nonprofit agencies that use it to feed their clients. Saving Grace’s efforts keep thousands of pounds of food a month out of the landfills. And, the donated food allows the recipient agencies to provide healthy meals to their clients, while directing more of their resources to other programs.
Each weekday morning, Saving Grace’s two professional food handlers drive refrigerated trucks on scheduled and on-call stops to pick up excess perishable food from a network of 30 regular donors. It’s delivered the same day – free of charge – to a network of 20 local nonprofits that serve low-income families in the Omaha area.
Trader Joe’s is one of Saving Grace’s earliest and largest donors. Since February 2014, the grocer has donated more than 185,000 pounds of excess perishable food through Saving Grace. “Trader Joe’s is in the business of feeding people, and we take it very seriously,” said Parker Staley, Omaha Trader Joe’s captain. “All of the items we deem unsellable we still want to go to a good home, and Saving Grace has been such a crucial part of that.” Partnering with Saving Grace allows Trader Joe’s to be a part of the community by donating to those in need, he added.
Other major donors over the past three years are Greenberg Fruit (160,000 pounds), Hy-Vee #9 at 180th and Q (129,000 pounds) and Atkin’s Natural Food Store (112,000 pounds.)
Since Saving Grace’s first refrigerated truck rolled out onto the streets on Sept. 30, 2013, the nonprofit business has consistently exceeded goals. Donation totals include: 2013 (three months) – 33,881 pounds; 2014 – 264,424 pounds; and 2015 – 415,360 pounds. The one million pound mark was no exception, as it was reached a month earlier than anticipated, thanks to large donations this summer.
“We could not have achieved this milestone without the support of the Omaha community, especially our generous food donors and financial supporters,” Smith said.
A list of all of Saving Grace’s 30 food donors and 20 partner nonprofit agencies and more information on the nonprofit agency is available at savinggracefoodrescue.org.
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>p>>em>One million pounds of excess perishable food rescued and delivered to feed those in need.>/em> It’s a milestone Saving Grace Perishable Food Rescue reached in late July – just 34 months after the nonprofit agency began operations.>/p>
>p>”This translate to one million healthy meals provided to clients of our partner agencies – homeless shelters, children’s centers, food pantries, senior centers and other nonprofits,” said Beth Ostdiek Smith, Saving Grace’s founder and president. “The fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, prepared meals and grain products supplement diets that may otherwise be nutritionally deprived.”>/p>
>p>Saving Grace provides a pipeline that connects excess perishable food that would otherwise go to waste with nonprofit agencies that feed the hungry. Donated food from grocery stores, restaurants, caterers and other food purveyors is matched with the needs of partner nonprofit agencies that use it to feed their clients. Saving Grace’s efforts keep thousands of pounds of food a month out of the landfills. And, the donated food allows the recipient agencies to provide healthy meals to their clients, while directing more of their resources to other programs.>/p>
>p>Each weekday morning, Saving Grace’s two professional food handlers drive refrigerated trucks on scheduled and on-call stops to pick up excess perishable food from a network of 30 regular donors. It’s delivered the same day – free of charge – to a network of 20 local nonprofits that serve low-income families in the Omaha area.>/p>
>p>Trader Joe’s is one of Saving Grace’s earliest and largest donors. Since February 2014, the grocer has donated more than 185,000 pounds of excess perishable food through Saving Grace. “Trader Joe’s is in the business of feeding people, and we take it very seriously,” said Parker Staley, Omaha Trader Joe’s captain. “All of the items we deem unsellable we still want to go to a good home, and Saving Grace has been such a crucial part of that.” Partnering with Saving Grace allows Trader Joe’s to be a part of the community by donating to those in need, he added.>/p>
>p>Other major donors over the past three years are Greenberg Fruit (160,000 pounds), Hy-Vee #9 at 180th and Q (129,000 pounds) and Atkin’s Natural Food Store (112,000 pounds.) >/p>
>p>Since Saving Grace’s first refrigerated truck rolled out onto the streets on Sept. 30, 2013, the nonprofit business has consistently exceeded goals. Donation totals include: 2013 (three months) – 33,881 pounds; 2014 – 264,424 pounds; and 2015 – 415,360 pounds. The one million pound mark was no exception, as it was reached a month earlier than anticipated, thanks to large donations this summer.>/p>
>p>”We could not have achieved this milestone without the support of the Omaha community, especially our generous food donors and financial supporters,” Smith said.>/p>
>p>A list of all of Saving Grace’s >a href=”http://savinggracefoodrescue.org/partners/”>30 food donors>/a> and >a href=”http://savinggracefoodrescue.org/who-we-help-2/”>20 partner nonprofit agencies>/a> and more information on the nonprofit agency is available at >a href=”http://savinggracefoodrescue.org”>savinggracefoodrescue.org>/a>.>/p>
>p> >/p>