Vancouver pandemic response group needs more volunteers to help feed those in need
Posted October 23, 2020 9:28 am.
Last Updated October 23, 2020 9:49 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As the financial impacts of the coronavirus crisis continue and the colder weather arrives, the need to address hunger is even greater now.
That’s where Vancouver Food Runners comes in.
The group was launched back in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to help people who are struggling with food insecurity.
Vancouver Food Runners is a not-for-profit that helps alleviate food insecurity and promotes sustainability by preventing perfectly healthy food from entering the waste stream and directly distributing it to organizations working with the food insecure.
“Right now, we have been feeding about one-thousand people a week. We have since mid-March rescued 167,000 pounds of food and that’s equivalent to about 140,000 meals,” Tristan Jagger, who founded the group, says.
A group trying to save healthy food from being thrown away is looking for your help as it tries to get meals to those struggling with food insecurity. This morning on @NEWS1130, I am speaking with the head of @food_runners about how you can help. pic.twitter.com/6hA7KK1VJd
— Amanda Wawryk (@AmandaWawryk) October 23, 2020
So, how exactly does this work?
The mom of four says surplus food is first donated by a food supplier. A volunteer then claims the food rescue in an app and then collects the food and delivers it to the assigned charity.
“To continue our growing momentum, we have introduced our Food Rescue Hero App to make volunteering even easier and to scale up and help meet the needs of even more charities. Using technology enables an ‘on-demand’ volunteer platform that allows anyone signed up to ‘claim’ food rescues at times and locations that are convenient for them. Volunteers can step up when their schedules allow and pick up food from a donor and deliver it to an organization that will distribute it to those who are hungry,” says Jagger.
Vancouver Food Runners has grown from 15 to 357 volunteers in just over half a year.
