Since 2018, we’ve partnered with food banks, food pantries, and other social impact organizations to power the delivery of charitable food and essential items. This initiative, called Project DASH, empowers community organizations with DoorDash logistics to increase access to food and other resources. We’re also working with our nonprofit partners to advocate for policies that support food banks and food pantries as they continue to serve people experiencing hunger.
This week, we released a new whitepaper, Broadening Food Access Through Innovative Public Policy. It showcases the importance of broadening food access through local delivery and opportunities to expand and invest in anti-hunger programs. In partnership with food banks, anti-hunger organizations, merchants, community leaders, nonprofits, and policymakers at all levels of government, we hope to help find solutions to these complex problems.
Announcing Policy Priorities for Expanding Food Access
In 2021, an estimated 1 in 8 people may have experienced food insecurity over the course of the year, and with COVID-19 shining a light on the country’s hunger emergency, the challenges of food insecurity predate the pandemic and will continue.
DoorDash is continuing to find new ways to help, both through programs and partnerships as well as by advocating for forward-thinking public policy. Our public policy goals are centered on three pillars that we believe will address access, which is a core cause of food insecurity:
- Increasing and supporting food distribution resources;
- expanding and investing in anti-hunger programs; and,
- engaging local delivery as a tool to help end hunger and meet communities’ nutrition needs.
Read more about our work in our whitepaper Broadening Food Access Through Innovative Public Policy, linked here.
Joining Partners and Policymakers to Broaden Food Access
Through Project DASH, our flagship social impact program aimed at strengthening access to food in our communities, we’ve supported hunger relief agencies and food insecure communities by powering deliveries of charitable food and essentials. Since Project DASH was launched in 2018, Dashers have made over 2 million deliveries of an estimated 35 million meals in the U.S. and Canada.
This milestone wouldn’t be possible without the hundreds of community organizations we work with through Project DASH. For example, on June 7, we celebrated the ceremonial 30,000th delivery – equating to nearly 500,000 meals – in Washington, DC in partnership with Bread for the City alongside DCRA Director Ernest Chrappah and DC Councilmembers Anita Bonds, Christina Henderson, Kenyan McDuffie, and Brianne Nadeau.
“While we wouldn’t wish another pandemic on the world, the silver lining is that we’ve been able to partner with companies like DoorDash to achieve what had previously been just a dream – delivery of food pantry groceries,” said Trazy Collins, Food and Clothing Director at Bread for the City. “We’ve been able to meet the needs of not only the community members who have long relied on our provision of food, but also meet the needs of those who may not have accessed services previously.”
This week, we also hosted a series of other events designed to highlight the need to increase and support food distribution resources and expand and invest in anti-hunger programs.
On Capitol Hill, DoorDash partnered with the Alliance to End Hunger and the Food Bank of Delaware to host a congressional staff briefing, in conjunction with the Hunger Caucus. The briefing focused on the transformative changes local delivery has made on the ability of food banks to reach seniors, the immunocompromised, people facing transportation barriers, and those with other challenges and ensure they get the food they need, conveniently and with dignity.
The week’s events culminated in a conversation hosted in partnership with Punchbowl News where Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern was interviewed by Punchbowl News founder Anna Palmer about hunger-related policy opportunities. DoorDash’s VP of Communications & Policy Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean and Feeding America’s VP of Agriculture & Nutrition Government Relations Carrie Calvert joined Anna for a fireside chat on innovative practices to broaden food access.
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Darrell Davis, Public Engagement Manager at DoorDash, speaks at Bread for the City and DoorDash’s Project DASH event celebrating the organization’s 30,000th delivery to DC residents. ![]()
Food Bank of Delaware CEO Cathy Kanefsky speaks at the Congressional briefing on the impact local delivery has made on the ability of food banks.
Looking Ahead
As we continue to grow this work at DoorDash, joining forces with our partners in government and the nonprofit sectors is more imperative than ever. We’re looking forward to supporting and participating in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health this September.
We’re honored to be able to contribute to the discussion around broadening food access while powering the delivery of charitable food and essential items every day through partnerships with food banks, food pantries and hunger relief organizations.
The post Celebrating 35 Million Meals Delivered through Project DASH, Advocating for Policies to Broaden Food Access, and Helping Food Banks Innovate appeared first on DoorDash Newsroom.