18 US mayors partner with DoorDash to increase food access

Food delivery service DoorDash has announced a partnership with 18 US mayors to reduce food insecurity.

DoorDash will provide US$1 million in Community Credits gift cards, proprietary data on local food access needs, direct funding for in-kind delivery of charitable food, and logistics via Project DASH.

Project DASH, launched in 2018, enables government and non-profit partners to organise pick-up and deliveries using DoorDash’s technology.

The company says that local delivery can help break down food barriers such as lack of transit, disability, and work or childcare commitments.

National strategy

The mayors are from Mesa, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Oakland, CA; Riverside, CA; Denver, CO; Hartford, CT; Tampa, FL; Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Paterson, NJ; Camden City, NJ; Albany, NY; Mount Vernon, NY; Rochester, NY; Columbus, OH; Pawtucket, RI; Richmond, VA; and Tacoma, WA.

“One in nine people in metro Atlanta is living with food insecurity, which should be a call to action for all of us,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. “Partnerships like this one with DoorDash allow us to combat food insecurity in our communities and help us build a more resilient, equitable and inclusive Atlanta.”

The announcement was made in support of yesterday’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, which convened public and private institutions around a strategy to end hunger in the US by 2030. The event has only been held once before in 1969.

Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, Vice President of Communications and Policy at DoorDash, said: “The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health places a spotlight on the urgent need for collaboration across the public and private sectors to break down barriers to food access.

“We are excited to now partner with mayors across the United States by providing resources to help combat hunger and support for local communities.”

Partnerships

DoorDash said that since 2018, Project DASH has powered more than 2.5 million deliveries of over 50 million meals across the US and Canada, and works with more than 50 food banks in the Feeding America network.

During the pandemic, DoorDash partnered with the NYC Department of Education to deliver meals to medically fragile students through Project DASH.

The company also provided Community Credits to support the White House and the State of California’s COVID-19 vaccination drives, and to encourage young people in Oakland to participate in civic engagement events.

Non-personal data from Project DASH deliveries will be shared to help cities identify trends and areas of need.

“We hope this will become a permanent part of broadening food access across the United States and the world overall,” a DoorDash spokesperson said.