DoorDash has partnered with 18 mayors across the U.S. to reduce food insecurity in support of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Healthy, DoorDash announced Wednesday.
The conference, which was last held in 1969, is focused on ending hunger by 2030 and providing better access to healthy, affordable food so that fewer people end up with diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity and hypertension.
The food delivery company will provide a total of $1 million in Community Credits gift cards to the 18 cities, as well as proprietary data on local food needs, direct funding for delivery of charitable food and access to logistics via Project DASH, the company’s social impact program focused on improving food access.
By offering additional food delivery, DoorDash can help overcome common barriers to food access such as lack of transportation, disabilities and work and childcare commitments. As of September, Project DASH has backed over 2.5 million deliveries to provide over 50 million meals across the U.S. and Canada. It partners with more than 50 food banks within the Feeding America network.
Of the deliveries made to date through this program, 61% went into low-income communities, including over 4.5 million meals to neighborhoods within food deserts. To date, 18.8 million meals were delivered to communities with high rates of households receiving SNAP/EBT benefits, and 15 million meals were sent to communities with high rates of people with disabilities.
Rival delivery firms have provided charitable aid to reduce food insecurity, as well. Uber Eats began partnering with Feeding America in 2019 with a commitment to provide over $1 million in cash and in-kind contributions to help tackle hunger over two years. That program expanded during the pandemic. Grubhub has also supported organizations to help reduce food insecurity.
