Broadening Food Access, City of Riverside and DoorDash Announce First-Ever Partnership Between a City and Project DASH
Published: 11/2/2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2022
Phil Pitchford
Public Information Officer
(951) 826-5975
Broadening Food Access, City of Riverside and DoorDash Announce First-Ever Partnership Between a City and Project DASH
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Today, the City of Riverside and DoorDash announced a first-of-its-kind partnership between the City and DoorDash’s Project DASH to address food insecurity. Leveraging DoorDash’s delivery logistics, Project DASH will be used to power the delivery of food to Riverside residents experiencing food insecurity. In addition, DoorDash will work with the City of Riverside to leverage DoorDash data to help identify additional and greater needs areas.
Project DASH is DoorDash’s initiative to empower food banks, food pantries, community-based organizations, and now cities to leverage DoorDash’s logistics to carry out their mission and better serve their communities. Overall, Project DASH has powered more than 2.5 million deliveries of an estimated 50 million meals across the U.S. and Canada.
“The City of Riverside is proud to partner with Project DASH to address food insecurity,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said. “Food insecurity is a growing issue across Inland Southern California, and in Riverside, we are excited to be taking proactive and innovative steps to address the needs in our community. While it is an honor for Riverside to be the first city to partner with Project DASH, it is my sincere hope that we are not the last.”
“As we have continued to meet the needs of our community where they are, the pandemic further increased the challenges within our most vulnerable populations in meeting basic food needs,” said Ninfa Delgado, Vice President of Operations/COO of Riverside Community Health Foundation, speaking on behalf of Community Settlement Association. “We are excited to be a part of this effort that includes using local delivery to expand our reach and ability to serve community members who do not have the ability to come to our location to get the assistance they need.”
Local community organizations, Community Settlement Association and Lighthouse of Hope Foundation, joined Mayor Lock Dawson and DoorDash to recognize the impact and benefit of this new partnership to the local community.
Founded in 1911, Community Settlement Association has focused on family wellness, education, civic engagement, cultural awareness, and strengthening the community in Riverside for more than 100 years. Lighthouse of Hope Foundation was established in 2020 to help feed members of the community in need. Their work grew quickly from feeding tens of people, to thousands as the community’s needs became more and more apparent.
“One of the greatest hurdles to addressing food insecurity is knowing where the need exists in our city,” said Donna Sautia, Founder, Lighthouse of Hope Foundation. “What makes me most excited about this partnership is how it will help our leaders see where the greatest needs are and empower them to plan and provide accordingly.”
“Empowering communities is at the core of our mission at DoorDash,” said Caitlin Gillis, Manager, Drive Government and Nonprofit at DoorDash. “We are humbled by the work the Community Settlement Association, Lighthouse of Hope and the City of Riverside are doing in the community, and we look forward to working with them to broaden food access.”
A live stream of the event can be found here.
About DoorDash
DoorDash (NYSE: DASH) is a technology company that connects consumers with their favorite businesses across the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Germany. Founded in 2013, DoorDash enables local businesses to address consumers’ expectations of ease and immediacy and thrive in today’s convenience economy. By building the logistics infrastructure for local commerce, DoorDash is bringing communities closer, one doorstep at a time.
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