National Inquiry Discussion Post

OK All,

Your kind words have overwhelmed me. Let me see what I can do to assist all of you to become the hands and feet of Christ in this very simple manner.

I have really been very hands on with my chapter presidents up until now because it has been possible, but the recent exposure nationally is going to force me to use a more global method of communicating Food Rescue with the world. One of the common questions I am getting is how do you convince stores to participate, and what about liability issues. I have forms that I have sent all of you, (most of you) that show liability waivers, but some just won’t get it or won’t want to take the risk. Also, I can’t promise anybody you won’t get sued. I also can’t promise to a Starbucks in Arizona how the food will be preserved at the Arizona food bank you choose. That’s between you and the organization you donate to. The food establishments want assurances that it will be eaten almost immediately, or that it will be preserved/frozen/bagged within a reasonable time period. Only you can give those assurances. Once you do, the tax benefits and the moral issue is very compelling, plus it is dynamite PR from a community relations standpoint. Read the Good Samaritan laws put out by an organization locally in Indy called Second Helpings that I forwarded all of you.

What I have to offer all of you is the use of the Food Rescue website and brand name to establish credibility with stores and food banks. We are picking up over 200 Food Rescues each month nationally in 9 short months, and we are in a number of different states, and each chapter president is working with their own organziation that feeds people in need. THEY FOUND THE ORGANIZATIONS, not me. If you asked each one of them, they will tell you the hardest part was finding an organization to work with that is willing to deal with perishable food, almost to the point of “maddening frustration”. They all started with a Panera Bread, and I did schedule those days for them at the national level, so they never had to find an alternate food establishment to start out with. So if you don’t have a Panera bread near you, then your job is a little harder. Most franchises don’t have an “eye popping” amount of food that goes to waste, but with Paneras fresh baked daily policy, they have more than most. It must go per their policy, and they will only give to a not for profit organization. 

Also, it is possible that there is a Panera bread near you and they do not have any time slots available, meaning the food is not being thrown out.  Yea.  This is what we want.  How do you find that out?  I suggest going to the store in a non rush hour time slot like 2PM and asking to speak with the manager about their end of the day donations.  Introduce yourself as a chapter president with Food Rescue, and that you were wondering if they had any days where organizations were not picking up their end of the day donations.  They will tell you they don’t scheudle it, which is true, but they do know the answer.  Make sure they understand you are not asking them to sign you up.  They will probably ask you where you are going to take it.  That is why you must find your partner locally that will benefit.  Then ask who to contact to apply for an opportunity to pick up one of those days that is not being picked up.  If they give you the name of Ken or Ann, then I will be of great help to you.  If it is anybody else, you are on your own and must make the contact yourself.    The applications are sent online and can be sent back online. 

What if I don’t have a Panera Bread in my area?  Start somewhere else.  The owners of these franchises will make their own decisions.  All I can do is give you the contact info of the people/owners in Indianapolis where the program works like Little Caesars or Starbucks.  It most likely won’t come to that.

In short, the brand and the website and the ability to create and change a schedule is what I can offer you as a chapter president.  You have all thought of this before, now you have a tool to accomplish it.  I know that everybody would like to imagine that this was the result of a lot of work and organization, but it was really just about asking, “Who wants to help solve this problem”.  A lot of people would like to help.  You just can’t give up when the first food bank says it’s too big of a hassle or the first food establishment says they are afraid to be sued.  Just move onto the next one.   For the bread, some of my CP’s have even made buying Zip lock baggies part of the once a month service, and they just go home and bag it before they deliver it to the food bank.  We are lucky in Indy.  Our food bank does that for us.

Let’s all pray, “Bring it on God”, and see what happens.  I know He will.  I will be gone until Midnight this evening, but I will answer questions when I get home.  Post them on “Leave a commnet.”