Powering the logistics of social good

Announcing an open call for in-kind grants in partnership with ReFED, the leading food waste think tank

By: Sueli Shaw, Social Impact

In six years, DoorDash has built a logistics platform supporting 4,000 cities across the 50 U.S. states, Canada, and Australia. Through last-mile delivery, we help local merchants expand their footprint and reach new customers, provide flexible opportunities for Dashers and help customers save valuable time while experiencing the best their city has to offer.

At DoorDash, we believe our logistics platform can also power social change. That’s why we’re formally expanding Project DASH, which supports organizations who need to transport food, supplies, or other items locally to accomplish their mission.

Doubling down on our commitment to addressing hunger and food waste

Project DASH was first launched in January 2018 to facilitate deliveries for food recovery organizations connecting donated surplus food to hunger relief nonprofits. Our food recovery partners, which include Replate, Transfernation, 412 Food Rescue, Copia, and others, use DoorDash Drive to request a Dasher when there is a food donation available. In our first year and a half, we helped connect one million pounds of excess food to over 250 nonprofits serving people in need.

Based on the success to date, we are committing to deepening our commitment to food recovery through Project DASH. That’s why we have partnered with ReFED, the leading food waste think tank, to select our 2020 food recovery partners for the current application cycle, open through mid-January.

Supporting other causes through our logistics platform

Over the past two years we’ve also powered logistics for other causes, such as with Wellness in the Schools to deliver produce for their nutrition education program to NYC public schools, and with Planet Hope to collect toys donated for a holiday donation drive.

The opportunity and how to apply

We are launching an open call for partnerships with organizations leveraging logistics for food recovery and hunger relief as well as other uses. If your organization has a last-mile delivery need, we invite you to apply.

Nonprofit partners will be awarded in-kind grants each covering anywhere from 200 to 2,000 deliveries annually (and discounted rates thereafter). These partners will have access to an online form or API to request a Dasher using Drive, our white-label fulfillment platform.

Interested organizations can submit proposals here. While submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, the deadline for the current cycle is mid-January 2020.

Priority will be given to long-term partnerships that leverage logistics to support communities in innovative ways.

Questions? Send us a note at social-impact@doordash.com.