Feeding America to use NEW technology for local food rescue with $1.6M Google Global Impact Award

CHICAGO, Dec. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Feeding America today received a $1.6 million Google Global Impact Award to use technology to advance its mission to feed Americans struggling with hunger.

Each year, billions of pounds of surplus food is sent to landfills while 49 million Americans, including 16 million children, lack reliable access to food.  This grant from Google will help support Feeding America's newest food rescue initiative—Online Marketplace—a program to help facilitate the safe recovery of excess food from local retailers and the foodservice industry by directly connecting donors to meal service programs and food pantries in local communities, with the oversight of our food banks. The Online Marketplace platform leverages technology to move food more quickly and safely from the donor to the people served by the Feeding America network. 

"Online Marketplace is a strategic priority for Feeding America, and this award will enable us to accelerate this program more rapidly," said Bob Aiken, CEO of Feeding America. "This will result in a significant reduction in food waste while also helping to increase the number of meals we can provide to food insecure kids, families, and seniors across the country," he added.

"The objective of  Feeding America's Online Marketplace platform is to drive efficiencies in our existing retail rescue programs and expand our food sourcing opportunities by adding additional foodservice companies, convenience stores, and restaurants as donors to help more people facing hunger," said Kevin Seggelke, President and CEO of Food Bank of the Rockies, one of the food banks that helped pilot the Online Marketplace program.

The Feeding America network of food banks serves 3.3 billion meals annually through its network of 200 food banks. The efficiencies created through Online Marketplace are projected to lead to the recovery of an incremental 740 million meals per year, helping to feed food insecure Americans while also driving significant reductions in food waste.

About Feeding America
Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate.  Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Contact:
Ross Fraser
Feeding America
(312) 641-6422
[email protected]  

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SOURCE Feeding America

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http://www.feedingamerica.org