Businesses are using a new mobile app to post extra edible food for local nonprofits to rescue and feed their community.
Los Angeles, Calif., August 2, 2021 – A free food donation app launched in Los Angeles this summer; now Careit links businesses to nonprofits to combat hunger. The app provides a free online marketplace to help food donors match up with the country’s most inclusive network of surplus food receivers, allowing them to feed the swaths of people facing evictions and food insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic.
With Careit, grocery stores, restaurants, and event caterers can offer up any surplus edible food donation. Available nonprofits claim the food, arrange for transport, and track the donation’s details and weight, all from within the app.
“Careit’s goal is to prevent businesses from throwing away a highly sought-after resource,” says Careit CEO, Alyson Schill. “For many years I worked in restaurants and special events and spent hours calling shelters or food banks trying to find a place to donate food, oftentimes ultimately sending food to compost or worse, the trash. We created Careit to solve this problem.”
Donors and nonprofits in Los Angeles and across the country are currently piloting Careit. “While the work that our organization does is rewarding, it is also extremely time-consuming.” Said Gino Barragan, Founder and COO of Esperanza Health and Wellness Center. “With the Careit app, we can manage whatever information we need from tracking weights, creating reports, and managing volunteers. It’s a game-changer.”
Careit is a for-profit business based in Los Angeles. Unlike other food donation technology, it is not proprietary for any one nonprofit nor does it require donors to sign exclusivity contracts. The app is free to use for all donors and nonprofits to give and receive food. It monetizes by charging subscription fees to users requiring advanced features such as data reporting to help with tax deductions. Local municipalities will also use Careit for regulatory compliance with laws such as California’s new SB 1383, which starting in 2022 requires businesses to increase food donations and track the weight of food rescued.
Organizations wishing to participate can find out more and get in touch at careit.com. Careit can be downloaded on your mobile device, or sign up at https://my.careitapp.com/auth/register.