FOOD RUNNERS
c/o Oak Street House
2579 Washington St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
415-929-1866
HELP FEED THE HUNGRY IN SAN FRANCISCO
Food Runners is an eight year old San Francisco volunteer organization that
picks up excess food from restaurants, bakeries, markets, hotels, conventions,
even food photograhers and delivers it to feeding programs in the city of San
Francisco. We need volunteers to pick up and deliver the donated food. A pick
up and delivery is called a "run". A run usually takes less than an hour.
Volunteers use their own cars and are dispatched by other volunteers who pick
up donation offers from a central message number, then make calls from their
own homes.
It is simple, quick and sensible, a matter of redistributing food so it is
used instead of thrown away. There are over two hundred active volunteers in
Food Runners. We have about 180 donors and approximately the same number of
programs that receive the donated food. Food Runners moves over four tons of
food every week.
Food Runners is growing continually. We just received a donation of a
refrigerated truck. We need volunteers that are willing to drive the truck to
pick up food from night time conventions and deliver it to our storage
facilities. We need volunteers who are available during the day in San
Francisco to be on call to pick up and deliver food as unexpected donations
are phoned in to the Food Runner message number. We need volunteers to make
the committment to pick up and deliver food from the same donor to the same
recipient, at the same time, every week. We need volunteers to dispatch other
volunteers.
How to Donate Food ?
- Package the food in safe containers
- Telephone Food Runners voice mail at 929-1866, telling us the type and
amount of food, the name and address, and the most convenient time to pick up.
- A volunteer will come to pick up your donation within 3 to 4 hours or the next morning.
Who Donates?
- Restaurants (like Masa's, Greens)
- Hotels (like Marriott, St. Francis)
- Bakeries (like Just Desserts)
- Caterers (like Creative, Knights)
- Food Wholesalers (like Monterey Fish)
- Markets (like Real Foods on Polk)
- Very large donations on non-perishable foods can be made to the San Francisco Food Bank at 957-1076.
Who Receives the Food?
- Neighborhood feeding programs
- San Francisco Shelters
- Child Care Centers
- Senior Centers
- Rehabilitation Centers
- Group homes
- Individuals seeking food should call the United Way helpline at (415) 772-4357.
If you live or work in San Francisco and would like to be
involved with helping to feed the hungry in our city, please call Food
Runners at 415-929-1866. We need you help now. Thank you.
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