236 selections, $70,999 in donations
Since March 2024, We Don’t Waste has been selected to benefit from the King Soopers Fight Hunger bag program 236 times at 72 different King Soopers locations. In total, the organization has received $70,999 in donations to continue combating hunger and reducing food waste in the Denver area.
Tell us about We Don’t Waste.
At We Don’t Waste, we believe food should go to people, not landfills. We also believe food should be accessible to all. We work to reduce hunger in the Denver area by recovering unused food from the food industry and redistributing it to food insecure families. Our organization focuses on three main areas: food access, education, and advocacy.
Our founder, Arlan Preblud, started the organization out of his Volvo station wagon in 2009. He saw the need for food in the community and knew that a lot of food was going to waste. He began working to recover food and bring it to local nonprofits to feed families struggling with hunger.
It’s grown a lot since those days of the Volvo station wagon, especially in the last five years. We now own five refrigerated trucks and a van. We also have a 30,000-square-foot distribution center. Since our organization was founded in 2009, We Don’t Waste has recovered and redistributed more than 50 million pounds of food.
Since our organization was founded in 2009, We Don’t Waste has recovered and redistributed more than 50 million pounds of food.
What services do you provide to the community?
The mission of We Don’t Waste is to increase food access and protect the planet by rescuing and repurposing food while also educating and advocating to increase food security and decrease food waste.
One way we redistribute food to the community is through our partner nonprofits. We work with approximately 100 different organizations, including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, schools, and more. Through our mobile markets, we work directly to help meet the needs of food desert communities. We bring food into these communities and set up no-cost farmers’ markets to reach individuals and families in need.
We also provide education on hunger and food insecurity, food waste, and its environmental impact, as well as advocacy work to promote legislation to help food insecure families and prevent food waste.
We work with approximately 100 different organizations, including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, schools, and more.
How has We Don’t Waste used the donations from the King Soopers Fight Hunger bag program to further its mission?
We have an amazing partnership with King Soopers, and this program has been an incredible addition. This partnership is just the gift that keeps on giving.
Given the Fight Hunger bag program’s focus on fighting hunger, we’ve used the funds to further our food access work. These donations have helped our efforts to recover unused food from the food industry and redistribute it into the community.
This partnership is just the gift that keeps on giving.
More specifically, we’ve used this money to expand the number of nonprofits we work with. For a long time, we had a waitlist of between 30 and 50 nonprofits that wanted to start receiving food from us, but we didn’t have the capacity to help all of the waitlist and our existing partners. This funding allowed us to add new nonprofits that serve different demographic groups and parts of the city. By increasing our capacity, we help increase theirs.
Ultimately, these donations enable us to help more people. It’s hard saying no to organizations that need food for their clients, so it’s been great to chip away at that waitlist and work with more nonprofits. The more partners we have, the better! We are all in this together, working to address the needs of our community as best we can.
Tell us a story about a program, service, or initiative that the donations from the King Soopers Fight Hunger bag program have supported.
In 2019, we knew there were parts of the city we weren’t reaching, so we began our Mobile Food Market program. One of the highest-need communities we began serving was the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods. Together with our two partner organizations, we began working in these adjoining neighborhoods.
Last year, the mobile markets outgrew their spaces. Even though it was one of the first communities we started serving with our mobile markets, we had to stop our services. Since then, we have been working with the National Western Complex and National Western Center in Denver to bring our services back to that community.
At the beginning of this year, we were fortunate to find a space that works and brought our mobile markets back to that neighborhood. The new location even has an indoor space, ensuring our participants are not waiting outside in the cold or heat. When the weather is nice, we get to be outside, but we will always have the indoor space as an option.
Over the last few months, we have reintegrated into the local community and continued providing vital food access to individuals and families.
Have you noticed any changes in community awareness or support since becoming involved in the King Soopers Fight Hunger bag program?
The Fight Hunger bag program has been another tool we can utilize to help people learn about what we do and how they can support us. The program makes it easy for people to donate to us through an activity that is already part of their weekly routine.
The entire program is also sustainable, which is core to both our mission and King Soopers’ mission. Through this program, people support us, King Soopers, and the environment. It is a great way to shop sustainably while supporting food access work.
What advice would you give other hunger relief organizations participating in the King Soopers Fight Hunger bag program?
There are nonprofits of varying sizes that have different audience numbers. My advice is to utilize all the channels that you have to promote the Fight Hunger bag program because you never know what the best way to reach people will be. Use your social, your email, your website, and word of mouth to spread the word.
Awareness is integral to this program, so get it out in front of people as much as you possibly can! They are already shopping at King Soopers and need a way to bring their groceries home, so let them know that buying a reusable bag is a way to support your work! The best advice is simply to get the news out there as much as possible in as many ways as possible.
Interview with Kyle Endres, Executive Director