"Feed the Need" Food Rescue Program

San Jose’s food recovery program No Time to Waste (NTTW) has a simple goal – to minimize the amount of perfectly good food that gets thrown away every day and use it to feed hungry people in the community.

This grass roots organization works with food suppliers to recover their surplus goods. Once recovered, the food (and other donated essentials such as personal hygiene products, face masks, etc.) are distributed to local charities to help people in need. Donated food items include fresh produce and dry goods that come from grocery stores, and prepared food donated by restaurants, caterers, and hotels. Organizations that receive the donated food include soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other charities that support people in need.

No Time to Waste began in 2012 as founder Paul DiMarco’s personal volunteer project, but has since grown to an organization with 24 full-time volunteers who work tirelessly throughout Silicon Valley collecting and distributing incoming donations.

Businesses large and small – including McDonalds, Zanattos Market, Walmart, The Giving Pie, Party Helpers, Safeway, and La Villa Delicatessen, to name a few – are now part of the donor network. Community partners on the receiving end include Martha’s Kitchen, Catholic Charities, Light House Ministry, Our Daily, Bread, West Valley Community Services, Second Harvest Food Bank, and many more.

To date, NTTW estimates that they have rescued 144,000 pounds of food, which has been turned onto 120,000 meals. Additionally, there is an environmental benefit to food rescue. Saving 144K of food from landfills has reduced the earth’s CO2 footprint by 39 tons and has saved 65 million gallons of water which would have been used to process the food waste.

Pretty good work for one guy with a bright idea!