CAFE Food Rescue has made it their mission to fight food waste and inequity here in Summit County by collecting surplus food from local businesses to distribute to those facing food insecurity. This innovative model provides a true win-win for our community: food waste is diverted from the landfill while also nourishing those in need. CAFE Food Rescue was awarded a 2023 Strong Future Community Waste Prevention and Reduction Grant to grow their programs and to increase the amount of food rescued and redirected to locals.  

 The grant funding award allowed CAFE Food Rescue to lease and upgrade a facility in Silverthorne to use as an efficient space to collect, bag, and properly store food for distribution. This facility allows them to expand their capacity for food donations. Additionally, the grant provided critical funds to support staffing, including hiring an Operations Manager and Bilingual Food Rescue Manager to expand their outreach efforts. They were also able to further develop their operations management system creating efficiencies that increased donors, volunteers, and amount of surplus food diverted to people in need. We are so excited to recognize CAFE Food Rescue for their amazing work supporting our planet and our people! 

By the numbers:  

• Pounds of food distributed: 64,000 in first 8 months of 2024.  
• Climate impact: equivalent to eliminating 22 passenger vehicles from the road annually & saving 7.4 million gallons of water 
• Projected food recovery for 2025: 119,500 pounds  

“The Strong Future Grant award to CAFE Food Rescue in 2023 was transformational for us.” – Diane Calvin, Executive Director