DoorDash’s Project DASH: Raising awareness to food rescued by Delivering Good

Did you know that DoorDash is delivering good? The Project DASH looks to fight hungry by connecting companies for food rescue.

DoorDash’s Project DASH has a simple premise, delivering good. Food waste is a tremendous issue in society. Beyond the home where that bag of salad goes from grocery cart to refrigerator to garbage can, restaurant waste is also problematic. While businesses try to plan properly, food waste continues to be an issue. Through Project DASH, DoorDash uses tech to fight hunger.

This program is simple, but genius. DoorDash uses its technology to connect donated surplus food to local hunger-relief nonprofits. DoorDash connects the pick-up and delivery. With less than 2% of restaurant food being donated, this program could have a huge impact on the “1 in 8 people in the U.S. who face hunger.”

In the first year of this program, DoorDash reports that it “rescued more than 625,000 pounds of food, providing 429,000 meals to people facing hunger and diverting 279,000 pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere.” Given that huge number by just one company, the impact is huge. Additionally, it spurs the conversation that more change is warranted.

DoorDash’s Project DASH Guinness World Record, photo provided by DoorDash

To raise awareness for this program, DoorDash created a mosaic out of over 6,000 cans. This installation sought to break the Guinness World Record. The installation represented 625,000 pounds, which is the amount of food donated over the past year. (Also, that is the weight of approximately 48 African elephants, the subject of the mosaic).

More importantly, all the cans used in the mosaic will be donated to LA Regional Food Bank. While the Guinness World Record is impressive, the food donation pays it forward and continues the conversation on an important topic.

While this visual is impressive, the issue that it represents is even more dire. Hunger and food waste are epidemics in today’s society. If these problems are not addressed in a viable way, the impact that it will have on society will be overwhelming. While this idea is a simple solution, leveraging logistics to tackle issues, it is curious that more companies are joining the cause.

Next time you think about placing a food order or making a food purchase, consider DoorDash. Supporting a company that pays it forward with Project DASH is always worth supporting.