412 Food Rescue Celebrates 9 Years with #FoodRescueHero Week 🥳

In the United States, as much as 40 percent of food produced is wasted, while in our community, 1 in 5 Pittsburghers are experiencing food insecurity. To date, 412 Food Rescue has diverted more than 31 million pounds of food bound for the waste stream in Western Pennsylvania, the equivalent of 25.8 million meals, mitigating 55.3 million pounds of CO2 emissions in the process.

In celebration of nine years of operation, we hosted #FoodRescueHeroWeek last week by getting local elected officials involved in our work in the community! During their food rescues, they were shown firsthand the monumental impact of our volunteers, food donors, nonprofit partners, funders, and supporters 🥳 

To kick off #FoodRescueHeroWeek, Mayor Ed Gainey stopped by the new Salem’s Market and Grill in the Hill District to rescue some food and deliver it to one of our longstanding partners, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. Thank you, Mayor Gainey, for setting an example and showing Pittsburgh the ease of completing a food rescue 🙌

We also tagged along with County Executive Sara Innamoroto, who delivered a food rescue from Giant Eagle in South Side to Allegheny County Housing Authority Dorchester. Thank you, Sara, for your continued support (she was already registered as a volunteer!)

Several other local elected officials took the time to complete a food rescue to demonstrate to the community an easy yet effective way to support our neighbors:

In order,

• 412 Food Rescue’s own Kristie Abercrombie, Director of Logistics and Allenport Boro Councilperson delivering food from Giant Eagle to a Washington County Housing Authority site 💗
• Pennsylvania State Rep. Lindsay Powell (District 21) delivering food from 412 Food Rescue’s Good Food Project to UPMC Matilda H. Theiss Health Center 🏥
• Pittsburgh Councilmember Barbara Warwick (District 5) delivering food from City Connections Squirrel Hill to Pittsburgh Latino Community Center 🏙️
• Pennsylvania State Rep. Dan Frankel (District 23) delivering food from UPMC Montefiore to Make A Smile Foundation 412 😃
• Allegheny County Councilperson Bethany Hallam delivering food from East End Cooperative Ministry to Wilkinsburg Community Ministry 💚
• Pennsylvania State Rep. Abigail Salisbury (District 34) delivering food from East End Cooperative Ministry to 1 household 🏡

Not pictured, 

• Pennsylvania State Senator Jay Costa delivering food from Jak’s Bakery to East End Cooperative Ministry 🥖
• Pittsburgh Councilwoman Deb Gross (District 4) delivering food from Ineffable Ca Phe to Central Baptist Church ⛪️
• Pittsburgh Councilman Anthony Coghill (District 7) delivering food from Shop ‘N Save to Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Carrick 🏘️

THANK YOU to all of the elected officials who participated in #FoodRescueHeroWeek! We also want to thank all of our food donors, nonprofit partners, volunteers, funders, and supporters – we collectively would not be able to have this level of impact in combating food insecurity for our Pittsburgh neighbors without such an outstanding network and unfaltering support.

As we move into our 10th year of operations, we look forward to continued growth, allowing us to further help our neighbors and the planet! 💚