Have you ever wondered what restaurants do with their leftover daily specials, or what grocery stores do with bruised apples and speckled bananas? Or maybe you’re wondering what Kara’s does with those extra fleur del sel cupcakes at the end of the day? Sorry, they’re not up for grabs, because Kara’s is just one of many Northside businesses that include Peet’s, Whole Foods, Dragon Well, Amici’s, and Greens that donate their leftovers to Food Runners.   

Food Runners is a volunteer organization dedicated to alleviating hunger and preventing waste in our city. Volunteers pick up all prepared excess food from a variety of businesses, and deliver it directly to shelters and the needy. Currently, Food Runners distributes over 10 tons of food per week, which would otherwise be thrown away. With the help of committed volunteers, this works out to approximately 2,000 meals a day for those 150,000 San Franciscans facing the threat of hunger.
   

Food Runners was started in 1987 by Mary Risley, founder of Tante Marie’s Cooking School. Risley was dismayed by the amount of leftover food generated by her cooking school, and she believed she was not alone, that there were others in the food business with the same concerns. She was bothered by the amount of leftover food going to waste when there were many who had no food at all. It seemed like a simple concept: deliver the extra food to those who needed it. Risley and other like-minded professionals came up with the idea to donate the food from those with too much and get it to those with too little. She persuaded local businesses to save their excess food, which she and her colleagues picked up and delivered to local shelters and food programs.
   

Today, Food Runners has over 200 volunteers who use their own vehicles to pick up food from over 250 restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, hospitals, hotels, caterers, and others. Volunteers then distribute the food to nonprofit, outreach organizations such as homeless shelters, drop-in centers, halfway houses, soup kitchens, hospices, children’s programs, and residential facilities serving seniors, battered women, and the mentally and
physically disabled.
   

It’s easy to become a food runner – all it takes is just one hour per week. Who doesn’t have that? You can sign up for a regular weekly delivery where you pick up food from the same donor, and deliver it to the same recipient, or you can choose to be an on-call volunteer where a dispatcher will contact you to determine your availability that day. All runs are tailored to your schedule and your location. Can’t spare an hour? Then sign up with a friend or a group of friends, and rotate the weekly responsibility.
   

Food Runners has other opportunities that include computer and telephone work, and of course, they gladly accept monetary donations as well. For a fast, fun, flexible way to make a difference in your neighborhood, sign up now at 415-929-1866 or www.foodrunners.org.