In the late 20-teens, a new kind of delivery service was born in Pittsburgh, not one for takeout, but for kindness.
412 Food Rescue began scooping up food nearing expiration, or rejected for being “unsellable,” and sending it straight into the hands of people who needed it. With the help of a custom-designed app, Food Rescue Hero, volunteers could find donations in real time and whisk them off to the organization’s Good Food Project kitchen in Millvale.
It didn’t take long before the idea exploded. By 2019, the group had created the largest volunteer-led food transport network in a single urban region, powered by 25,000 everyday heroes behind the wheel. Collectively, they’ve turned more than 70 million pounds of food into 57 million meals, sometimes cooking up 600 meals a day, all while preventing 30 million pounds of emissions from rotting food waste.
And they didn’t stop there. Fast forward to today, and Food Rescue Hero’s impact has stretched far beyond Pennsylvania. By the end of 2024, they had expanded to Illinois, Arkansas, California, New York, Colorado, North Dakota, and Texas. Together, these partners have already prevented an astonishing 102 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, “the same impact as removing 4,043 cars from the roads for an entire year.”
“We were founded on the principle that people are wired for good,” says CEO Alyssa Cholodofsky. “And our Food Rescue Hero community has validated that belief many times over.”
In a country where as much as 40% of food is wasted while one in seven people goes hungry, their proof of concept is powerful: 250 million pounds rescued, 450 million pounds of emissions prevented, and countless neighbors fed.
“Ours is a story of regular people helping each other and working together to take on some of the biggest challenges facing our world,” Cholodofsky adds. “Two hundred and fifty million pounds is just the beginning.”
For anyone inspired to join the movement, there are dozens of ways to get involved, whether through 412 Food Rescue in Pittsburgh or Food Rescue Hero nationwide.
Because sometimes, the biggest change really does start with a single delivery.
- From Unwanted to Unstoppable: Chewy the Shih Tzu Finds His Forever Family in a Senior Living Center - September 18, 2025
- Teen Who Started Reading Program During Pandemic Still Brings Joy to Special Needs Kids Five Years Later - September 18, 2025
- Uber Ride Turns Into a Life-Changing Friendship That’s Still Going Strong Seven Years Later - September 18, 2025
