Donor FAQs
What is Peninsula Food Runners’ expectation from the donor?
Donor account should reflect 2 contacts for the account: a regular contact person and a backup person. Please provide contact information with accessible cell # . Clear Instructions of where the drivers are to park and retrieve the food.
Back up person and staff onsite should be aware of the pick up agreement and will have access to a visible posted PFR contact information. This will ensure donations are picked up, and donation consistently.
Peninsula Food Runners is an organization that works collaboratively with Donors, Volunteers and Recipients.
If you choose to have regular food runs set up, please remember to cancel the food runs when there is no food, or when your are off site, or are close for the holidays. This will prevent unnecessary effort and waste of resources on the part of volunteers. You can also send a notification to support@peninsulafoodrunners.org
Please be professional and kind with all the Volunteers. They are here to service you for free, feed those in need, and prevent food waste.
Should a situation arise with our driver that makes you uncomfortable, please send an email to support@peninsulafoodrunners.org or call (415)826-6903.
How does the service work?
The Donor creates a one time account on our website. Very important to verify your email when prompted to in order to legitimize your email. This will allow you to access your account and schedule food run request.
When the account has been validated, Donor can begin scheduling a food run pick up to donate food immediately via application or phone app called ChowMatch. The first schedule of food donation will prompt you the donor to agree to the SB 1383 agreement. This agreement is the document you will be asked to show to the city and county department responsible for monitoring climate bill 1383. The agreement will show you are in compliance and have partnership with a food recovery organization who is working to service your surplus donations.
The Donor schedules a food pick up at a determined date and time for pickup. Once the request is submitted, ChowMatch app matches the donor to the recipient using multiple criterias. It also notifies Peninsula Food Runners’ pool of Volunteers who can choose to assign themselves. When the food run is assigned, both Donor and Recipient are notified via email that food will be picked up and delivered.
The Logistics of Signing up as a donor
Set up an account at www.peninsulafoodrunners.org. This is a one-time set up with a series of questions regarding your business and your donation information.
Wait to get activated by admin. This is the period we look for recipients close to your vicinity. The turn around is quick or you are welcome to also inquire at info@peninsulafoodrunners.org or 415-826-6903
Once you receive the activation email, access your account with your email and password and begin to schedule and donate.
You have the option to schedule all the food runs for the week ahead of time. This can be a one time or a repeating schedule food run. Make sure you state that the schedule run as a " Regular Weekly Runs" or a “One Time Run” This signals the chowmatch app to to automatically re-generate next week's food run or not. When you “submit” your request for each day, an email goes out to all the volunteers inviting them to support your account.
Please note that when you do not have any food to donate, you can cancel the present day food run. Make sure to state " "Cancel this time only" and not "cancel permanently". This will let the system to continue regenerating the food run for the following weeks.
General Instruction: Please include details that a volunteer would need. Parking or instructions a volunteer needs such as texting or confirming food availability.
Most importantly, please know a staff is available to assist. You can reach our program manager Hoai-An at 408-726-2742 either by calling or texting or call the PFR office number (415)826-6903. Additional backup contact is Maria’s cell# (415)203-8389.
What are the guidelines for scheduling a food pickup?
Please provide a minimum 2-hour window for " On-Call" or same day pick ups so that you can cast a wider net of volunteers to help.
For special weekday or weekend events, please give at least a 2 day notice or call 415-826-6903 or send an email to support@peninsulafoodrunners.org
A late Friday afternoon pick up requires a longer notice to be successful. We highly encourage all donors to donate as early as possible and best by no later than 2 pm on Fridays.
When scheduling a food pickup request, we ask that you provide as much details regarding the food donation (lbs, types, vehicle size, hours for pick up, who to contacts and parking instruction) and description of the prepared food that is being donated (i.e. Mexican, Chinese).
Note: If you already have a regular food run schedule, you have the ability to cancel your food run request at the moment when you realize that there isn't enough food to donate online from your account. (This is best done ASAP when you realize cannot feed more than 10 or about 30 minutes before the food run is to take place. You can also contact your volunteer whose information is available in your email confirmation. ) This will prevent unnecessary trip for the volunteers and both the Volunteer and the Recipient will get the notice of the cancellation. Thank you for abiding to this green practice of preventing further waste in human resource and C02 pollution from cars.
Is there a minimum or maximum food donation?
We ask that you have enough food to feed at least 10 people because most shelter starts at 10 and up.
Here is a guideline: individual meals (greater than 10 meals, greater than 3 trays ~3/4 filled, greater than 20 lbs)
If you have food that will feed fewer than 10 people, you can do a self drop-off at the following shelters or call for further suggestions based on your area.
We don’t have an upper limit on the amount of food you can donate. Multiple vehicles can be requested for one food run. However, if you anticipate your food donation will require more than 1 car load, please indicate that when you schedule a food pick-up through ChowMatch web application. If this is done less than 48 hours, please call the Peninsula Food Runner at (415)826-6903 and always leave a message.
What is an "on-call" versus "regular" food run?
A regular food run is a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly food pick-up that occurs at the same time and usually by the same volunteer. A regular food run is usually automatically scheduled by the ChowMatch system.
An on-call run is a one-time pickup that can get filled by any of our Volunteers. On-call runs are usually scheduled the day of or anytime during the week.
What are your operating hours?
Monday-Friday for both on-call and regular runs. Weekends for regular runs and special events. Our normal working hours are 8:00 am-5:00 pm working in conjunction with shelter and affordable housing hours. Please contact us at support@peninsulafoodrunners.org or 415-826-6903 for special events which require weekend or after hours pickups.
How should the food be package for transportation?
It is important that all donated foods be packaged properly in sanitized food-safe containers provided by the Donor. If the caterer you are contracted with cannot provide you the containers, please consider bulk purchasing the trays from places like Costco and consider it as an expense for tax donations. Consult with your accountant regarding the tax write offs.
The food can be packaged in its original catering container or tray with either a foil or plastic cover that is taped up well. Serving spoons and tongs should be discarded and not be donated in the tray with the food. This unhygienic practice introduces contamination to the food.
When donating food with liquid, please drain the liquids from the solids (i.e. black beans liquid from the black bean). Additional Saran wrap to completely cover the pan will also prevent further leakage. Our volunteers use their own vehicle and they will thoroughly appreciate your gesture.
The consolidation of various foods into one pan would be best and more appealing for consumption if food is sectioned out versus all mixed in. Consolidation of similar groups of food such as carbohydrates with carbohydrates and vegetables with vegetables etc.
To abide with the EPA guideline regarding food donations, using sharpie to include the following information on the trays for donations. Company's name, Date of Donations and Time of Donation. Please refrigerate the food immediately after packaging while waiting for the runner to pick up the food. All food donations should be ready to go before the arrival of the Volunteer.
What are the food Safety handling information I should be aware of?
THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT and RECIPIENT ORGANIZATIONS
All donated food should have the following information
Name the dish
Date that it was prepared
Name of the caterer that prepared the food
Include any possible food components contributing to Allergies
Often when we cook at home or eat in a restaurant, we have surplus. To ensure that surplus are safe to eat, make sure the food is cooked to a safe temperature and refrigerate the leftovers promptly. Not cooking food to a safe temperature and leaving food out at an unsafe temperature are the two main causes of food borne illness. Safe handling of surplus is very important to reducing food borne illness.
If food is stored at room temperature, food should be picked up within 2 hours after completion of service and consumed within 4 hours.
Hot food can be placed directly in the refrigerator or be rapidly chilled in an ice or cold water bath before refrigerating. Cooling process and heating up process of food surplus to 165 degrees is equally important for food to be consumed safely.
Here are a couple examples of food donation scenario in order for food consumption to be safe: All assuming that hot food is serve in 2" deep trays which helps with the cooling down of the food.
Food is delivered by a caterer at 11:30 am in an insulated containers and kept hot. 12 pm, food taken out of insulated containers, and served until 1:30 pm. Surplus food is donated at 1:30 pm. The food has started the cool down process from 12 pm and put into the refrigerator at 1:30 pm. The volunteer picks up the food at 2:00 pm and delivers the food to the recipient by 2:30 pm. At this point, the food has be consumed within 4 hours of "room temperature" and in this case it has to be consumed by no later than 4:30 pm. By just keeping food in the refrigeration you can buy time for food to be delivered and safe for consumption. Nevertheless, we still always recommend food be heated up to 165 degrees before consumption.
Food is delivered by a driver of the restaurant at 11:30 am. 10 Trays of food is left on the kitchen counter. Food is served at 12 pm. 3 trays of food surplus is left untouched at 1:00 pm and lunch ends at 1:30 pm. The donor schedules a food run pick up at 1: 30pm- 2:30pm. At 1:30pm the donor still does not put the 3 trays of surplus food into the refrigeration. The food runner comes at 2 pm. The food has been at room temperature since 11:30pm. The food gets delivered by 2:30pm. The food has now been at room temperature for 3 hours. The recipient has to consume the food by 4pm or the food has to be heated up to 165 degrees to be consumed safely or discarded by 4pm. When in doubt, heat up the food to 165 degrees before consumption.
Potentially hazardous foods must be kept out of the danger zone (41°F - 135°F) for safety. Surplus food should be kept hot in insulated containers or cold in the refrigeration and both can be used to replenish food to feed employees during lunch.
Refrigerate the food immediately after serving while waiting for the runner to pick up the food.
Do you ever decline food donations? Are there any types of food that are not accepted?
We only accept all types of food that has been prepared in a commercial kitchen with all the stringent guidelines of food handling. You can do a self drop-off at the following shelters.
What areas do you service?
Peninsula Food Runners Organization services San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, which include these cities.
During the food pickup, how can I identify the Peninsula Food Runners volunteer?
Reviewing your food run email will also help you identify the runner responsible in servicing your donation pick up.
The confirmation email will provide the Volunteer’s name and contact information that is responsible to for your donation pick up. When in doubt, text program manager (408)726-2742.
Some companies have created a log-in sheet for the Food Runner Volunteers as a security to keep track who is coming in and out of your premises.
Will the Volunteer bring a cart?
We highly encourage Donors to invest in a food cart to transport food to volunteer’s vehicle. This ensures the safety for the Volunteers while transporting on Donor premises. This is most critical when donated food is not available on the ground level of a building. (https://www.uline.com/BL_1604/Rubbermaid-Service-Cart-Bins).
Does the Volunteer need help loading the food?
Most Volunteers will indicate if they need help especially if the load is more than they can handle. A food cart onsite is welcome and will be an attractive perk when servicing your account.
What happens when a Donor schedules a request but no Volunteer food runner signs up for the run?
Our pool of Volunteers are pretty good about picking up food runs (95% rate), but there are times when we cannot find a Volunteer to pick up the food. Our non-profit organization currently relies 100% on our Volunteers to do our food runs. (This is one of the reason why we highly encourage that food be refrigerated immediately after the meal time has ended)
If this happens, we ask that you store the food overnight in a refrigerator and reschedule a new run for the following morning or until the next meal donation. Contact our program manager by sending an email to support@peninsula food runners or call the office at 415-826-6904.
An address to a local shelter is provided which will allow your employees the opportunity to drop-off the food on their way home. following shelters.
Many corporations encourage their employees to Volunteer for local charities in the communities. Offer this to your employees if you have such a program in place. They would appreciate knowing that the wonderful surplus food they consume goes to supports people in need.
Please consider signing up with Peninsula Food Runners' (PFR) employee program. PFR will help Donor track all donor's employees activities and will provide impact reports of their employees in the communities. ( This includes employee hours, provide the food runs, track the impact food rescued and service hours given back to the various shelters). Please contact maria@peninsulafoodrunners.org for more information.
Can you guarantee a food run pick up?
Our service provides a 95% pick up rate. 5% is either due to last minute request outside the normal business hours. If you would like a guaranteed food run, please get in touch with us by calling (415)826-6903 or email support@peninsulafoodrunners.org
What is consider donating in "Good Faith" Here are some examples in a Yes or No scenarios.
Yes to donating food to feed more than 10 people. Any less can be refrigerated for following day pick up
Yes to whole fruits with blemishes. We love "Uuugly" fruits! :)
No to food donations stored in refrigeration more than 2 days and definitely "NO" to food that has accumulated through the week and donated in order to clean out the refrigeration. This is consider not giving in good faith.
No to food request runs for pick up that only consist of 1-2 tray of rice or bags of pita breads. These can be donated with the following day's food donations. This is also true for condiments.
Yes to expired drinks, snacks, protein bars because the past due date merely states the freshness and not the quality of the food. Once again, best donated along with the actual surplus meals.
Is there a cost for this service?
Until now, we have relied 100% on Volunteers at every level of the organization. That includes our founders and staff who developed and maintain the web & mobile application, solicit donors, recruit volunteers, and reach out to shelters, as well as our wonderful Volunteers who pick up food donations and deliver it to shelters and neighborhood feeding programs.
But because of the PFR's rate of growth, we welcome any assistance in skills to help keep the organization running and sustainable. We are committed to remaining a mostly volunteer organization, and keeping our overhead as low as possible.
We also rely on financial contributions, fundraisers, and grants to help offset operating costs.
Please Click here if you'd like to make a financial donation.
What are the most important features on ChowMatch that any donor should be aware off?
Cancellation of regular food run feature when food is not available.
Updating donor account instructions for the volunteers
Updating contact information as new personal takes over the responsibility of managing donations