New Hunger Relief Program Comes to Prince William County

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA—An app for smart phones just may be a smart way to transport food from places such as grocery stores and restaurants that otherwise would be discarded to those in need. That the goal of a new hunger relief program, Prince William Food Rescue.

Volunteers, or "food rescue heroes," can download an app to their phones that shows available deliveries in their area, after which they pick them up and drop off the food at area food pantries. Examples of donor locations include stores, restaurants, caterers and farms.

The program is the brainchild of Action in Community Through Service (ACTS) and area marketing agency Imagine. In a release, ACTS says the National Resources Defense Council estimates that in the United States, 40 percent of food worth $165 billion is wasted every year.

"We intend to divert perfectly good food from our landfills and into the hands of those who
need it by mobilizing thousands of volunteers through an app on their phones, creating the
'Uber of food distribution' for our region," Aaron Tolson, director of development for
ACTS, said in a statement. "Together, we can redirect food from sanitation to sustainment and end hunger in our region."

Added Imagine official Patrick King: "A delivery won’t take but a few miles and a few minutes. So many people in our community want to help those less fortunate but are strapped for time. This is the perfect opportunity for everyone to help without investing more time than they have."

And from ACTS president Steven Liga: The Food Rescue program opens up a whole new dimension for ACTS Hunger Prevention Center. While we already pick up from most grocery stores in the area and support four smaller food pantries, we do so with a limited crew of scheduled volunteers and are already at full capacity with our storage and distribution space."

Click here for more information about both the program and the app.