We’re laser-focused on hunger relief and sustainability.
What we do
As a hunger relief organization and an environmental sustainability agency, we’re all about reducing waste and eliminating hunger. Find out how we do what we do.
Meet the team
Meet our staff and fantastic board and learn more about the small but mighty team that manages to get fresh, delicious food to over 8,500 families a week.
Gleaning like us
Want to start your own gleaning operation? Collecting and redistributing food is one of the simplest and most effective ways to combat both hunger and climate change. Start a gleaning operation in your community!
Our Story
In 2006, we realized that hunger isn’t always an issue of access—it’s often an issue of distribution. It started with a few conversations at local restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries, where we learned that many had perfectly good, unused food with nowhere to go. So, we began picking up small donations and delivering them to local nonprofits.
Word spread, and Urban Gleaners came to life. As the volume of food grew, so did we—eventually acquiring a warehouse and a few vans to keep up. What began as a grassroots effort has grown into a vibrant, volunteer-powered organization feeding thousands of families every week by rescuing fresh, unsold food. We recover some of the region’s best ingredients—from hand-roasted coffee and organic produce to fried chicken, gourmet deli sandwiches, and gluten-free cookies.
Today, we rescue nearly 1.2 million pounds of food every year and provide nourishment to over 8,000 food-insecure families every single week. This is what happens when a community comes together to reimagine food waste and fight hunger—one meal at a time.
Our history in a nutshell
