Become a Community Partner

Receive free, fresh food to share with your visitors, residents, and clients.

Members of the James Apartments Residence Council beaming as they receive a large donation of cafeteria meals.

Who we support

We partner with shelters, food pantries, drop-in centers, rehabilitation facilities, community kitchens, after-school programs, affordable housing communities, mutual aids, faith-based programs, and countless others to redistribute food to the people who need it most.

FAQs

My organization has drivers available. Can they do food rescues?

Yes! Community Partners can do their own food rescues.

It is especially helpful if your organization has trucks available for large rescues, as most of our volunteers drive smaller personal vehicles.

I don’t have a 501c(3). Can my organization still receive food?

Yes! We work with a wide variety of groups, not just 501c’s.

You will need to demonstrate that the food from our rescues will be provided for free to DMV area residents with limited food access.

How soon will we get our first food rescue?

We cannot guarantee a timeline for matching a new partner to a food rescue.

We consider many factors including proximity, timing, and food type to determine which Community Partner to pair with a new rescue.

What type of food will my organization receive?

Your food rescues will be dictated by your program’s needs.

We recover all kinds of food — raw, nonperishable, fresh, prepared, or frozen — and match new donations to where they will go to best use. Given the unforeseeable nature of food donations, we cannot guarantee specific item requests.

Are you currently accepting new Community Partners?

As of July 2026, we have limited capacity to support new Community Partners with our current base of Food Donors and volunteers.

We welcome interested groups to register below so that we have them in our network if/when food donations become available.

Groups that can send their own drivers are especially encouraged to register.

Still have questions? Contact us.

Assorted logos of organizations that are supported by DC Food Rescue
Assorted logos of organizations that are supported by DC Food Rescue

Join Our waitlist

Send us your organization’s details using the form linked below.

Request to Join

Our Operations team will vet your organization’s request and onboard you into our program and food rescue app.

Feedback from Our Partners

  • Sherita Evans, Single-Site Program Manager, So Others Might Eat

    Your ongoing collaboration continues to make a profound difference in our community, not only by meeting immediate food needs but also by bringing dignity, choice, and joy to the families we serve.

  • Cynthia Hall, Columbia Heights Village

    Our relationship with DC Food Rescue has afforded our organization to serve thousands of meals and place food where there would be empty spaces in some of our residents' refrigerators. The volunteers deliver with a smile and are always willing to help once they arrive. We would not be able to serve in the capacity that we do if it wasn’t for DC Food Rescue!

  • Judy Ingram, Director, NW Community Food

    Without DC Food Rescue, our pantry would be unable to serve the 100+ households to whom we provide food every week. DC Food Rescue provides us with free, fresh, and healthy food, and allows us to stretch our meager, donation-based food-purchasing budget.

  • Jenna von Elling, Luther Jackson Middle School Pantry

    Our partnership with DC Food Rescue has completely changed what we can offer our families. In addition to shelf stable items like rice, dried beans, and canned goods, we can now offer frozen meat, produce, fresh bread and even cookies for the kids. The variety is so wonderful, and well-received by our families.

  • Norma Hernandez, Harvey Hall Community Center, Affordable Homes & Communities

    We were able to support families who lost their jobs to have food at their tables; seniors who did not have enough money to get some desserts; and families to secure their food for their kids.

DC Food Rescue is powered by Food Rescue US