Twenty years ago, Hope 4 the Heart began providing food rescue services to their Hayward, California community and surrounding areas. In 2019, they received $329,766 from California Climate Investments through the Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program.

Hope 4 the Heart used their Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program funds to purchase a 26‑foot refrigerated delivery truck, a forklift and warehouse handling equipment, and a walk‑in refrigerator for their 5,000 square foot facility. As a result, more than 2.4 million pounds of donated food was diverted from landfills, and an important food rescue network in the underserved Southern Alameda County area was given an opportunity to grow.

Hope 4 the Heart now brings food security to more than 20,000 Alameda County residents every month and provides work rehabilitation and job training services to many non‑profit community and court‑referral volunteers. The project has already surpassed its emissions reduction target and has reduced 2,146 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to date.

The food Hope 4 the Heart rescues is donated by a growing network of local organizations including Safeway, Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods, San Francisco Specialty, Vesta, and other restaurant and retail food warehouses and stores. One donor, Chefs to End Hunger, www.chefsendhunger.org/ provided Hope 4 the Heart with 1,253,420 pounds of surplus food in 2019.

California’s StopWaste.org also supports Hope 4 the Heart and has recognized the group as a key stakeholder since 2014 in StopWaste.org’s work to reduce food waste in Alameda County. “Year after year, [Hope 4 the Heart] is able to increase the amount of individuals and families served, onboard new donors, and rescue additional food for redistribution. Hope 4 the Heart has been a vital partner in expanding the County’s capacity for recovery of surplus prepared food, which [the organization is] uniquely equipped to handle.”