Community Plates Receives $20,000 Grant to Expand Food Rescue in Fairfield County

Community Plates, a Connecticut-based food rescue organization, has received a $20,000 grant from the Fairfield County Community Foundation to support the development of new software. The organization's new software, called GoRescue makes possible a food rescue model that is "duplicable, scalable and sustainable," according to a release from Community Plates.   

With the new software, Community Plates has rescued 1.4 million meals in two years, according to the release, with meals directly transferred by over 500 volunteer drivers to 40+ receiving agencies nationwide.  

The new software, GoRescue, will enable Community Plates to greatly increase the number of meals rescued and delivered throughout Fairfield County.

“We are grateful for community partners like FCCF who are committed to serving those in need in innovative ways," said Community Plates Executive Director Kevin Mullins in the release.  

The traditional food rescue model relies on multi-layered infrastructure and excessive food handling via fleets of trucks, drivers and warehousing, which requires significant overhead and time, greatly limiting the ability to transfer perishable, fresh food.  Utilizing the GoRescue App and volunteer food-runners, Community Plates eliminates overhead, while delivering fresher (and thereby healthier) food directly to those in need.  

Founded in January 2011, the non-profit Community Plates is committed to ending American food-insecurity through direct-transfer food rescue.