You may remember this graphic from a couple of months ago, which accompanied an article describing where our food comes from. You can see that a very important source of food are "rescue" programs that save perfectly good food from local stores that might otherwise go to landfills. 

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These programs are especially valuable because they not only bring variety to Daily Bread, but also help save the planet by reducing food waste.

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The small wrinkle is that we are responsible for picking up and getting the food to the Pantry. At the moment, we have five active programs - with Stop & Shop, Price Rite, Shop Rite, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. The procedure varies slightly from store to store, but in essence we are given an appointed day and approximate time to show up and collect the food from the back of the store. Usually, there is some sorting and a check-out process before the food can be loaded into the volunteer's vehicle and driven to the Pantry. In most cases, a large-ish sedan or compact SUV is more than adequate to transport the food.

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Right now, we are in desperate need of volunteers to cover the Price Rite and Trader Joe's programs (which have pickups on Thursday mornings and, ugh, early Sunday evenings, respectively).  To learn more, just drop me a note at contact@dailybreadfoodpantry.com. Or call me on 203-300-9345.