What They Do: Founded by Evan Ehlers in 2018, Sharing Excess is a food rescue and distribution organization that salvages food from retailers, wholesalers, and food purveyors of all kinds, and delivers it directly to food banks, mutual aid programs, college campuses, and community organizations.
Sharing Excess began in Philadelphia while Evan was a student at Drexel University. When he saw his university meal plan was expiring, Evan tried to donate the unused meals from his plan to as many people as possible, going so far as to drive around the city, handing out meals directly to Philadelphians who needed it.
Realizing the true scope of food insecurity, Evan started Sharing Excess after graduating, to combat the twin issues of food waste and food insecurity more systematically, and at scale. The organization now operates nationwide, currently helping to stock New York City Food Policy Center’s own automated pantry system at Hunter College’s Silberman Campus.
How They Do It: Sharing Excess relies on a dedicated staff to coordinate partnerships with wholesalers, including the Hunts Point Produce Market (the largest in the world), and retail food providers such as Trader Joe’s and Giant Food Stores, sorting and shipping their excess product and acting as a liaison between these purveyors and the community organizations seeking to receive food.
Community organizations can reach out to Sharing Excess to request food deliveries, while wholesalers and retailers can partner with Sharing Excess to donate salvageable food that would otherwise go to landfill.
Core Programs: In addition to repurposing excess food from retailers and wholesalers, Sharing Excess also sponsors a number of student-run campus chapters that engage in food rescue operations as well as pop-up distributions and meal-swipe donations. They currently sponsor 16 different chapters across the United States.
Beyond these programs, it also partners with logistics and shipping companies like Warp, emphasizing entrepreneurship as a cornerstone of building distribution networks.
FACT SHEET:
Areas served: 30 states nationwide, in addition to Guatemala
Year started: 2018
Contact info: Gabby Smiley, New York Program Coordinator – gabby@sharingexcess.com
Miranda Potmesil New York Program Director – miranda@sharingexcess.com
